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9 





OR, 


LIBERTY OVERTHROWN! 


A TALE FOR THE CRTSTS. 



By oppression’s woes and pains ! 
By our sons in servile chains ! 
We will drain our dearest veins, 
But they shall he free ! 


Burns. 



COLUMBUS : 

D. ANDERSON. 

CINCINNATI: 

GEO. S. BLANCHARD. 

1 8*5 6 . 



* 




(0^3^ O 


Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by 
D. ANDERSON, 

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court, for the Southern 
District of Ohio. 



♦ V 


E. MORGAN & SONS, 
Stereolijpers, Printers , and Publishers, 

NO. Ill MAIN STREET, CINCINNATI, 0. 


BELLE SCOTT. 


CHAPTER I. 

In the autumn of the year 1852, a young man 
about twenty-five years of age, was seated in 
front of a boarding-house, in an obscure street in 
New Orleans. The smoke from his cigar rose in 
curls above his head, while he seemed to be 
quietly enjoying the cool evening, and resting 
from the labors of the day. Edgar Reed was a 
journeyman printer, who for greater profit in his 
trade, had recently come from New York. A tall 
gentleman, about sixty years of age, who limped 
a little as he walked, took a seat by him. 

“ And so,” said Mr. Carter to Mr. Reed, “you 
have not only made up your mind to go on your 
hunting excursion, but have got all ready to 
start ! ” 

“Yes,” said Mr. Reed, “I believe all is at last 
ready. We have laid in a full supply of powder, 

(7) 


8 


BELLE SCOTT. 


lead, and caps; we have good rifles and a tent ; 
and provisions enough to last us a month/’ 

“ I dare say/’ said Captain Carter, “ that you 
have powder and • lead enough to kill all the deer 
you will lind ; and as much baggage as old trav- 
elers would start with on a journey round the 
world ; that ’s the way you young folks do ; but 
it’s no matter — when you get older you will he 
wiser.” 

“ I think,” said Mr. Reed, “ we had better take 
too much than too little, for if we shall want any- 
thing in the place to which we are going, we can- 
not get it. You once had the kindness to give 
me some lessons on the art of hunting deer ; please 
repeat them; you are an experienced hunter. 
I never shot at a deer in my life.” 

“ It’s all very simple,” replied Captain Carter ; 
“ when the Mississippi rises so as to overflow the 
country, which it sometimes does in places, for 
many miles on both its sides, the deer, and other 
game are driven to the high points of land : 
they stay there in herds, and of course fall an 
easy prey to the hunter. The river is now up, 
and the place you are going to is the very best 
that I know of. You will find the bucks on the 
highest points of land ; the does and fawns shel- 
ter and hide themselves behind logs and fallen 
trees. At other times you will find the deer in 


PREPARATION FOR A HUNT. 


9 


thickets; they always choose such as conceal 
them best. When you come across a deer, you 
must be cool. If your hand shakes at all, as 
you raise your rifle, put it down and don’t at- 
tempt to fire, till you get as careless as if you 
were about to shoot at an apple on a tree. 
Better let the deer go, without a shot at it, than 
to shoot and miss. Don’t get too close ; you 
will kill oftener at seventy-five yards, than at 
fifty ; because at fifty, you will be too confident 
and miss your aim. When you are ready, point 
your rifle down to the fore-foot of the deer and 
raise slowly till you get it ranged with the breast 
of the animal; then move it about an inch or 
two back ; hold it firmly, fire, and the game will 
be yours.” 

“ Thank you, captain, I’ll follow your directions 
to the letter, and I have no doubt but that I will 
succeed.” 

“How long will you be gone? and who goes 
with you ? ” 

“I intend to be absent two weeks. I cannot 
afford to lose more time, and could not go at all, 
unless with the confident hope that the profits I 
shall make from my game will be equal at least 
to my earnings if I staid here. Mr. Patterson 
goes with me. I am tired of hard work, and wish 
some rest and change of scene and occupation.” 


10 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“As for your profits,” said Captain Carter, 
“ unless you are more successful than I have ever 
been, you will find the balance on the wrong side 
of the account. I have gone on a dozen such 
trips, and so it has always been with me. But 
go by all means, whether you make or lose money 
by it : your health will be improved, and in every 
other respect you will be the gainer ; but it is 
eleven o’clock ; good night.” 

“Good night, Captain Carter, we shall hear 
from you again.” 


CHAPTER II. 


EDGAR REED. 

Mr. Patterson called on Edgar the next day, 
and informed him that his mother had been taken 
dangerously ill ; of course he could not leave her. 
With the exception of his rifle, he presented to him 
his share of the whole outfit, and Mr. Reed, having 
all things in readiness, determined to go alone. He 
soon found a steamboat, and was on board with all 
his equipage, and ascending the Mississippi. 

Late in the evening of the following day, the 
boat reached the point at which he was to land. 
Rain was falling, and the night was dark. An 
officer of the boat had promised to make arrange- 
ments for him with the keeper of the wood-yard. 
His baggage and himself were soon put ashore. 
A brief conversation took place between the clerk 
of the boat, and Mr. Talbot, the owner of the 
wood-yard; and Edgar was committed to his 
care. He was conducted into a hut, in which 
were only two chairs, a rude bench, and table. 
His host was covered with a jacket, made of green 
flannel, that reached nearly to his knees ; he had 

(U) 


12 


BELLE SCOTT. 


on his neck a kerchief with red and yellow 
bars ; and a great number of keys and seals hung 
at the end of his heavy watch-chain. His move- 
ments, and air of self-reliance showed him to be 
one accustomed to command. Two surly-looking 
negro men came to the hut, on the floor of which, 
without bed or covering, lay four other negro men : 
a rifle stood in a corner of the room, and the stock 
of a revolver stood out of one of the large pockets 
of Talbot. 

“ Anything new in New Orleans, sir ? ” said he 
to Edgar, who for reply handed him a roll of 
newspapers. He began to read them by the 
light of his lantern. After some time, he gave 
directions to the two men who were awake to 
prepare a bed for Edgar, by arranging the tent, 
and other materials he had brought with him. 
In a few minutes Edgar was asleep, leaving Talbot 
still reading the newspapers. 

After breakfast, the next day, Talbot directed 
four of the men, to get a boat and take Edgar and 
his baggage to the other side of the river, and 
about three miles below the wood-yard ; to provide 
him with wood, and put up his tent. 

The boat was soon at the place. The men had 
often been there with other hunters, and knew 
better than Edgar, what was wanted for his com- 
fort. They put up his tent on the highest point 


THE HUNTER’S TENT. 13 

of land, and near the river, placed in it shelves 
made with boards which they brought with them, 
and provided him with fire-wood ready for use. 

They cut down a cedar tree, and piled up part 
of the tender branches in his tent, on which they 
placed his mattress; and covered the whole tent 
with the branches of the tree so thickly, that, 
except in front, no part of the canvas could be 
seen. They then made a pile of brushwood, on a 
point near the place where they had landed, and 
told him to set fire to it, as a signal, when he 
wanted them to come and take him off ; or when, 
for any purpose, he desired their attention. Ed- 
gar gave them each a small sum of money, in ad- 
dition to the compensation for their services that 
he had paid to Talbot; and they left him. 

His first care, after their departure, was to place 
everything in order. His cooking utensils were 
arranged on one shelf; his rifle, bullet-moulds, 
and lead, on another; his books, pamphlets, and 
papers, on still another ; and in a safe place, in a 
corner of his tent, he put his canister of gunpow- 
der. These preparations kept him busy till nearly 
the middle of the afternoon : then, after cooking 
and eating his dinner, he dressed himself in his 
hunting gear, and started out, first to make an 
examination of his island. It was on the east 
side of the Mississippi river ; at its highest point, 


14 


BELLE SCOTT. 


the ground was not more than eight or ten feet 
above the surrounding waters. It was about three 
miles long, and half a mile wide, and irregular in 
shape : a small island that contained not more 
than an acre of land, was separated from the larger 
one, on which Edgar was, by a deep and narrow 
stream. With the exception of a few open spaces 
of small size, the larger island was covered with 
forest trees; sycamore, magnolia, cotton-wood, 
poplar, and cypress, upon which gray moss hung 
down nearly to the ground. Everywhere, were 
fallen trees, and half-decayed logs, and a thick 
undergrowth of shrubs. On the west and south 
sides, the Mississippi rolled its flood of turbid 
waters: on the other sides, the water extended 
as far as the eye could reach; and standing 
thickly in it, were large moss-covered trees, and 
bushes like those on the island. 

It was night when he returned, wearied with 
the labor of the day. He prepared his supper, 
closed his tent, and slept soundly. 


CHAPTER III. 


THE HUNTER. 

Earlv the next morning, our hunter was awa- 
kened by the chattering of hundreds of birds. 
The day so long wished for, from his early boy- 
hood — so long the subject of his waking dreams — 
now beamed in the full brightness of early sun- 
rise upon him. 

After breakfast, he carefully dressed himself in 
his hunting clothing: his feet and limbs were 
covered to his knees with thick boots, to protect 
him from the bite of rattlesnakes ; he had a blue 
cloth cap on his head, from the center of which, a 
tassel hung gracefully; and a closely-fitting jacket, 
protected him from the chilly air of morning. 
With his powder flask and bullet sack suspended 
from his neck, and his rifle on his arm, he was 
now ready. 

He had not been from his tent an hour, before 
he saw through the bushes, a fine deer. He 
thought of all the instructions Captain Carter had 
given him, took slow and deliberate aim and 
fired. The deer bounded unhurt away; the forest 

06 ) 


16 


BELLE SCOTT. 


echoed the sound of his rifle ; and the island, so 
still before, seemed to be now alive with animals. In 
a few minutes afterward he saw another deer, and 
determined to be still more careful. He fired, 
and was keenly mortified to find that he was again 
unsuccessful. He then wandered through the 
tangled bushes, and over fallen trees and logs, to 
the furthest end of the island; here he rested 
himself, and then started on his return. He had 
got about half way to his tent, when he heard a 
slight rustling among the fallen leaves, and care- 
fully looking in the direction from which the 
sound came, he saw part only, and but a small 
part of the body of a deer. The intervening 
branches nearly hid the animal from his view. 
The distance seemed too great for the reach of 
his rifle ; but he was now half careless, and kneel- 
ing on one knee, he took deliberate aim and fired. 
The animal leaped high into the air — rushed with 
almost lightning speed for a mile, and fell. It ran 
in the direction of the tent, and when Edgar got 
to it, it was lying on its side, its eyes filled with 
tears, and panting for breath. He carried, or 
rather dragged it to his tent. His sadness was 
now all gone. He could shoot deer as well as 
other men, and needed only opportunity and 
practice to make him a successful hunter. 

After he had taken good care of his game, he 


AARON. 17 

started out again, full of hope — confident of 

success. 

He had not gone far before he paused and 
looked around — then passed on a few steps and 
stopped again. He was almost sure that he heard 
some one calling to him, and after listening a 
short time, he heard distinctly the words “ Master, 
master,” and saw a negro man approaching with slow 
and feeble steps, and shaking as with an ague. 
His person was covered with tattered clothing, 
his feet with greatly worn skins of wild beasts 
bound around them with strips of bark. His 
eyes were sunk in his head, his hands and fingers 
long, thin and bony — his whole appearance showed 
disease and famine. Edgar was shocked at the 
wretched appearance of the man, and still more 
so, when he said, “ Master, I am starving to 
death, please give me something to eat.” He 
followed Edgar to his tent ; food, water, and the 
remains of the coffee Edgar had prepared for his 
breakfast, were speedily given him. His eyes 
sparkled at the sight of the food, but after he had 
tasted it he became sick, and leaning back rested 
with his eyes closed against a post of the tent. 
Edgar prepared for him a cup of tea, and food 
better suited to his weak condition ; but of this 
also he took but little, and then asked permis- 


18 


BELLE SCOTT. 


sion to lay himself down at the tent door before 
the fire. A few branches of the cedar tree were 
placed on the ground and covered with a blanket ; 
a pillow was brought, the fire renewed, and the 
weak and weary man soon sank into a profound 
sleep ; he continued in this state till nearly sun- 
set, and then got up refreshed and craving for 
food. He was now able to eat much more than 
before; the muscles of his face relaxed, and 
he was certainly better and stronger than he 
was in the morning — still a wretched cough 
harassed him. 

Our hunter selected from his wardrobe a full 
suit of his clothes, such as he could best spare, 
and directed the man to wash himself and put 
them on. A look, at first searching and distrust- 
ful into Edgar’s face, and then, as if fully assured, 
another look full of gratitude and surprise, and 
a hearty “ thank you, master, thank you, God 
bless you,” was the response, and the reward for 
this kindness. As night came on the fire was 
increased, and Edgar and the stranger were 
seated by it. 

“What is your name 

“ My name, master, is Aaron — Aaron Harper.” 

“ Are you a slave ?” 

“ No, master, I was born free ; my mother and 


AARON. 


19 


father were both free ; but I was kidnapped when 
I was a little boy and carried away and have 
been held as a slave ever since/’ 

“ Why are you here ?” 

“ Master, I will tell you the truth. I ran away 
and was trying to get to Canada with my child. 
She is dead now, and I don’t care whether I am 
free or not. I know I will die soon. I am worth 
nothing to any man. My poor, old, worn-out 
body would not bring a dollar on the auction 
block. I was near this place when the river rose, 
and I have been compelled to come here to get 
out of the way of the water ; I could find but few 
roots to live on ; and as for game — though there 
is plenty of it, I am too weak to get it. I heard a 
rifle-shot this morning and started to find the 
hunter; of course without knowing whether he 
would be a friend or a foe ; and in this way I 
have met you.” While he was speaking, his voice 
was low, composed, and respectful. 

Although our hunter was kind and hospitable, 
yet it cannot be denied that this visit afforded him 
no pleasure. To leave New Orleans with high 
hopes of a brilliant hunting campaign — to be upon 
the ground, and then to have on his hands a 
sick negro to nurse, caused him no little vexation. 
But what could he do ? The man was hungry — 
how could he refuse him food already prepared, 


20 


BELLE SCOTT. 


and of which he had more than he needed ! He 
was sick and wanted shelter — how could he refuse 
him a place to warm himself by his fire ! There 
was a struggle in Edgar’s mind between his pride 
and his humanity ; but he was young, generous 
and hopeful; and humanity, of course, conquered 
all meaner feelings. It is difficult to blame him 
for these first impulses. He had his birth and 
education in a state in which there were but few 
people of color ; and although he had seen a great 
many of them at New Orleans and other places, 
after he became of age, yet he knew but little 
about them. 

After two days, the appearance of his guest had 
greatly improved. The deadly pallor had left his 
skin and it put on a more healthy look. He was 
more cheerful and active ; and he performed many 
little offices about the tent by which he became 
useful. He cooked the food — kept up the fire — 
dressed the deer killed — aided greatly in car- 
rying them to the tent, and always kept watch 
when the hunter was absent. Edgar conversed 
more frequently with him, and found day by day 
that his prejudices were wearing away, and that 
his guest, instead of being, as he at first supposed 
him, but little better than a beast, was a modest, 
sensible, intelligent, and grateful man. 

It was now Sunday — our hunter laid aside his 


AARON. 


21 


hunting dress, and prepared himself to pass the 
day in his tent. After breakfast he opened a 
trunk and took out a number of books. He was 
surprised to find that Aaron took from his bosom 
an old book with its cover all black with constant 
use. Both sat down and read, but Aaron read 
slowly and with difficulty ; Edgar found that he 
was reading a Bible, the print of which was too 
fine for his dimmed sight. He went to his trunk 
and from the bottom of it took out a larger Bible, 
sat down and said, “Let me read awhile to you.’' 

“ Thank you, master, thank you. It will be a 
great favor. My eyesight is so bad that I hardly 
know what I am reading. My book is an old one. 
I have taken as good care of it as I could, but it 
is soiled and worn.” 

“What shall I read?” 

“Bead, if you please, the 41st Psalm, master.” 
Edgar turned and read : “Blessed is he that con- 
sidered the poor ; the Lord will deliver him in 
time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him 
and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon 
the earth, and thou wilt not deliver him unto the 
will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen 
him upon the bed of languishing : thou wilt make 
all his bed in his sickness.” 

As soon as he had read it, Aaron said, “Master, 
I am poor; I have worked hard all my days and 


22 


belle scorr. 


have no land, nor house, nor food, nor clothing, 
only what you have given me. When I die, there is 
not a foot of ground that can be claimed as mine to 
lay my body in. I had no right, it was said, even 
to take care of my own child while she was alive. 
Another man claimed my own body and mind, as 
his property. Surely, if there is in the whole 
world a poor man, I am poor ; and you have re- 
membered me ; you have taken care of me and 
given me clothes, and food, and shelter. Now 
the Bible is true, and God is true. He will bless 
you. I don’t know how he will do it ; but He 
will bless you. He will make your bed when you 
are sick ; He will keep you from the power of 
your enemies.” You will be blessed upon the 
earth. The Lord will deliver you in time of 
trouble, and preserve you and keep you alive. 
After this they were silent for a few minutes, and 
Edgar handed his Bible to Aaron and walked 
slowly into the forest. 


CHAPTER IV. 


JOHN SCOTT, ESQ. 

A few miles from New Orleans was an old- 
fashioned house, two stories high, surrounded by 
forest trees. An avenue led from a gate, on the 
east side of the dwelling, to the door. Orange 
trees were scattered over the lawn, and rose- 
bushes, part of which were in bloom. The paint 
on the house had faded ; and the roof was half- 
overgrown with moss. The avenue was covered 
with sea-shells, broken into fragments, but still 
white. A shower had fallen, and flowers, fruits, 
and the melody of birds filled the air with fra- 
grance and music. 

The front door opened into a hall, on each side 
of which were large rooms, with low ceilings, and 
small windows. In one room, packages, books and 
papers, lay on the chairs, tables, and carpet, which 
two black women and a mulatto boy, under the 
direction of a young lady, were placing in trunks. 

The steps of a gentleman were heard upon the 
porch, rapidly walking toward the room. As he 
entered, he said, “ What ! Mary, not ready yet ? 

( 23 ) 


24 


BELLE SCOTT. 


The boat leaves at eight o’clock to-morrow morn- 
ing, and we must all be on board by half past 
seven or we shall be left for a week ; no other 
boat fit to travel in will go up the river sooner.” 

“Oh, Papa, I am so tired; but we have now 
only to put these things in the trunks, and lock 
them up; in an hour all will be ready.” 

The gentleman was John Scott, Esq., the owner 
of the plantation. He was about sixty years of 
age. His features were regular ; his eyes keen, 
bright and gray ; his hands and feet small ; his 
lips firmly compressed. He had marks of great 
activity of mind and body; courage and perse- 
verance. 

Mr. Scott had just left the room, when Mary 
said to the boy, “Hun, Jim, and see who is coming? 
I hear a carriage in the avenue. 

Jim returned and said, “ Miss Mary, it ’s Mr. 
Eyes, the same gentleman that was here yester- 
day, and that comes here so many times.” 

A flush passed over Mary’s face. “ Mr. Ives, 
Jim; not Mr. Eyes.” The two colored women 
looked at each other and smiled. 

“ Run, Jim, said Mary, and take care of Mr. 
Ives’ horse.” 

“ Shall we quit packing now,” said Sally, one of 
the women, looking at Mary ? 

“ Why no, go on as fast as you can. What in 


MARY SCOTT. 


25 


the world will you stop for now, with these things 
scattered all over the room ? You really must 
have the trunks locked in an hour, or papa will 
be displeased.” 

“Well Missis,” said Sally, “it’s all one to us, 
and the sooner we get done the better.” 

Mr. Ives entered the room, and Mary ex- 
claimed, “ Why were you not here sooner ? I have 
been looking for you all this afternoon.” 

“ Oh, I have been so engaged in preparing for 
my journey. I have had all the business of my 
office to arrange before I leave, and the cases 
of my clients to look after ; but I have got all 
ready now. Are you ready ? ” 

“Nearly so; in another hour this hard work 
will be over. I am so glad that you can go with 
us. You have, of course, laid in a store of books?” 

“ Yes,” said Mr. Ives, “ I have more than we 
shall find time to read, even if we shall be two 
months from home, and at Richmond we can get 
more.” 

“ Do,” said Mary, “ exert yourself to the utter- 
most to cheer my father. My uncle was, as you 
know, the only relation that he had, out of his 
own household. Now that my uncle is dead, my 
father’s sorrows have greatly increased. You 
must do all that you can to console him.” 

Mr. Ives said, “ I will do so, as well for your 


26 


BELLE SCOTT. 


sake, as for his. It is strange that brothers should 
be foes for a quarter of a century ; but when death 
comes, the feeling of brotherhood renews its power; 
and then the grief is more poignant than if they 
had lived in affection. These old Virginia family 
feuds have imbittered the lives of hundreds of 
excellent persons, who might otherwise have been 
as happy as mortals usually are.” 

“Well,” said Mary , cc I am now going for the first 
time out of my native state. I have lived so 
much at home, that I do not know how I shall 
feel and act in new scenes, and amidst strange 
associates. I half regret that papa insists upon 
my accompanying him, and I believe I would beg 
to be excused if he did not so much need my at- 
tention. You have been to Virginia, have you 
not?” 

“ I have never been further north than Lex- 
ington, but all the people south of the Potomac 
are so much alike in their manners, thoughts, and 
feelings, that we shall at all times be as much at 
home as if we were in New Orleans. Our trip will 
be short. There are no difficulties in the way of the 
speedy settlement of your uncle’s estate, and when 
that shall be done we will return, and then my 
dear Mary.” 

Mary colored, but a smile would play upon her 
face, in spite of her efforts to look grave. 


MARY SCOTT. 


27 


Although Henry Ives had never formally pro- 
posed to Mary, still they were affianced lovers. 
The eyes, the faces, the conduct of lovers reveal 
their hearts. Mr. Ives was a lawyer in good prac- 
tice ; he was about twenty-eight years of age. 
His brow was marked by hard study ; his figure, 
slightly bent, was slender and graceful. At one 
time his friends thought he would become a min- 
ister; but although he had studied theology, he 
remained in the profession for which he had been 
educated. 


CHAPTER V. 


aaron’s narrative. 

Our hunter’s interest in his guest, increased 
daily, as he became better acquainted with him. 
As they sat by the fire, in front of the tent, in 
the evening, after the labors of the day were over, 
he from time to time, obtained from Aaron, a 
history of his life, and made notes of such 
parts of it, as appeared to him worth remember- 
ing ; correcting, as reporters do, some inaccuracies 
in the style of the speaker ; while he endeavored, 
as closely as possible, to preserve the narrative, 
as he heard it. This was written in short hand, 
on loose pieces of paper, at intervals, and thrown 
into a trunk. 

“My parents,” said Aaron, “were both free. 
My father was steward on a ship that sailed from 
Alexandria to the West Indies. My mother, 
who had four children, of whom I was the eldest, 
in the absence of my father, maintained her family 
by daily labor. When I was seven or eight years 
old, a Quaker lady took me into her service, and 
taught me to read and write. She generallv took 
( 28 ) 


AARON S NARRATIVE. 


29 


me into a room up-stairs, when she gave me 
lessons. She told me not to let any person know 
that I was learning to read and write. As soon 
as I could read pretty well, and write a little, she 
took another colored boy in my place, as I believe, 
for the purpose of teaching him. 

“When I was about nine years old, I was sent 
at dusk, by my mother, to a public pump ; and 
while there, I saw a group of persons at a tavern, 
with the sign of a black bear, across the street ; I 
went into the crowd; a slave-trader was just 
starting with a gang of slaves. One covered 
wagon, was nearly filled with women and children. 
I went near the rear of the wagon, a man 
picked me up, and threw me quickly in it ; a man 
in the wagon seized me, put a handkerchief over 
my mouth, and tied me hand and foot. He told 
me, if I made any noise he would kill me; in 
another minute the wagon moved off. We trav- 
eled all night, and the greater part of the next 
day, which I remember was Sunday, before we 
stopped even to feed the horses. After a long 
journey, during which I was allowed to walk part 
of the time, with a man by my side as a guard, 
we came to what I now know to be, the eastern 
part of Alabama. Here I was sold, I do not 
know for how much, and delivered over to my 
master. He, too, was a trader, and after he had 
3 


30 


BELLE SCOTT. 


kept me a few months, he sold me to Mr. Thorn- 
ton Jones, with whom I lived as house servant, 
until I was about twenty years of age. Mr. J ones 
was a Methodist class-leader ; he discovered that 
I could read, and encouraged me to do so. ITe 
gave me two or three new Bibles, while I was with 
him ; and often exhorted his slaves to be religious. 
It was his constant practice, on Sunday mornings, 
to gather us all together ; read to us chapters in 
the Bible, and sing, and pray with us. He was 
generally kind, and gave his slaves as much food 
and clothing, as the best masters in the country 
gave to theirs. All seemed to be going on pros- 
perously on his plantation, till one day, while we 
were hoeing cotton, two men came into the field, 
stopped all the hands, and said we were levied 
on by the sheriff, for a debt of Mr. Jones. We 
were allowed to stay on the plantation, for nearly 
a month, and then were taken to the court-house, 
and put in jail. Two days afterward, we were 
all sold at auction, by the sheriff. I was bid off 
at eight hundred dollars, by Harvey Willard ; a 
gentleman of whom I had never heard before. 
He told me, he would be a good master to me, if 
I would be an obedient slave to him. This I 
promised him, and we set off together for his 
home, he on horseback, and I by his side on foot. 
But I was not long in his service. He was 


aaron's narrative. 


31 


addicted to gaming, and one night took me to 
a tavern in a village, near his plantation, at 
which he met several other planters. He drank 
a great deal of liquor that night, and lost much 
money. About midnight he said, his cash was 
all gone ; I was standing at his back, when he 
turned and said, ‘ I will stake this boy on this 
game.' The game went on, and I was handed, 
over to a Mr. Adams, who won me. He took 
me in a few days, to a plantation in about the 
middle of that state. I lived on it several 
years. My food was corn bread, with a little meat 
once a week. I was allowed two suits of cotton 
clothes, one straw r hat, and one pair of shoes a 
year. His overseers were generally hard drivers, 
and made large crops. Mr. Adams was not often 
on the plantation on which I lived. His home 
was thirty or forty miles off. Soon after I went 
to his place, I married a woman older than myself, 
who had one child. She died , in a few years, 
leaving me the father of one living child ; my own 
child was a poor, weak, sickly thing. She was 
what people call broken-backed, but a more affec- 
tionate being never lived on earth : she would sit 
watching for me as I came home at night from 
the field; spring into my arms, and. lean her little 
head upon my shoulder, and show by other tokens 
how deeply she loved me. After my wife died, 


32 


BELLE SCOTT. 


no one but my daughter lived in my cabin, which 
was at some distance from the cabins of the other 
slaves. The only book I had was a Bible, and 
from that I taught her to read. 

“When Lucy was about six years old, I was 
seized with dread that I should be sold, and 
separated from her. I tried to get rid of it, but 
it haunted me. I dreamed of it at night, and 
thought so much of it by day, that I became hag- 
gard and care-worn. I knew that if I was sepa- 
rated from her, she would die. No one loved or 
cared for her but myself. She was of no value to 
my master. The children called her bad names, 
because they said, she was ugly. 

“This fear kept eating into my heart, till I could 
bear it no longer; I determined to run off. I 
knew the north star, and knew that somewhere in 
the world, there is a place to which, if I could 
get, I and my child too, would be free. I laid 
aside, each day, from my scanty meal a little food ; 
and when the store seemed large enough, one 
dark night I took my sleeping child in my arms, 
and with all our clothing and food in a bundle on 
my back, quietly left our cabin, on a long, long 
journey, seeking for freedom.” 

(Here part of the narrative has been omitted.) 


CHAPTER VI. 


aaron’s narrative. 

“ At night we took a meal of com bread. Again 
with Lucy in my arms, and my bundle on my 
back, I started on my journey. We kept on from 
night to night, till we came to the Ohio river. I 
had learned how to cross rivers. I made a float 
or raft of two logs of wood, of about equal length 
and size, placed in the water side by side, about 
four feet apart, then two more, but smaller, laid 
across the first ; then two, which were nearly flat, 
placed across the corners, and close together; on 
these I put my bundle, and seating Lucy on it, 
held her with one hand, while with a stick in the 
other, I first pushed the raft into the river, and 
then rowed it as well as I could. I had never 
tried before to row a boat, or to cross a river, ex- 
cept by wading, or on horseback. My rowing was 
awkwardly done, and at first the raft only seemed 
to float down the river close by the shore from 
which we started. But by constant rowing, 1 saw 
that we were getting out into the stream. When 
we got into the middle of the river, the water ran 
so strongly, that my raft seemed unmanageable. 

( 33 ) 


34 


BELLE SCOTT. 


I worked hard at my oar, and after awhile, got 
out of the current, and was gaining the shore on 
the opposite side of the river. Just as I thought 
myself safe, Lucy started, and almost shrieked 
with fright ; I turned to see what scared her, and 
saw, what seemed to be a furnace of fire, coming 
rapidly down upon us. It was a steamboat. I 
called out as loudly as I could, and rowed toward 
the shore with all my force. The boat swept past 
us without striking our raft, but another danger as 
great, seemed as if it would destroy us. The 
boat had made great waves, and the tossing of 
these seemed likely to break our raft in pieces. 
I pressed myself as firmly on it as possible, and 
the great waves drove us close to the shore. 
When we had nearly reached it, the logs came 
apart, and we both fell in the river, but we soon 
got out safe. My bag of food and clothes came also 
to the edge of the river ; I caught it, and all wet 
as we were, we rejoiced that now we were out of 
the land of slavery. 

“ On the night before this, we met a colored man 
in the woods, who told us that we were but two 
miles from the State of Ohio, and that all persons 
in that state were free. I thought when we got 
there we would be free. As soon as we had 
climbed the river bank, we stood still. 1 said, 
‘ We are free ! ’ 


aaron’s narrative. 35 

“‘Free, father ! are we free now; free! will we 
be free all our lives?- 7 

“ My heart was full. The bright stars and the 
half moon were shining in the sky. All was still. 
I looked up and God seemed to be above us ; I 
paused, and the hot blood rushed in gushing 
streams over my whole body ; and then, lifting up 
my hands to heaven, I shouted, ‘ We are free ! 
we are free !’ I heard voices shouting in return, 

• We are free !’ The stars seemed to shout, ‘We are 
free !’ The clouds that floated in silver drifts above 
us, shouted, ‘ We are free !’ Each golden wave of 
the Ohio, as it rolled along in its course, shouted 
‘We are free!’ Every hill and every valley 
around us, shouted and shouted again, almost 
in thunder- tones, ‘We are free ! ’ All above and 
around us, seemed to be shouting to us, and to 
each other, ‘ We are free ! we are free ! ’ We 
kneeled down and kissed the ground and poured 
out our thanksgivings to God for freedom. 

“ I looked by the light of the moon and stars at 
my hard hands, and my heart leaped and beat in 
my breast when I thought, these hands are mine ; 
these feet are mine ; this head is my own head ; 
this mouth, these eyes, this whole body — all my 
own. My whole self was a thousand times dearer 
to me now that they were mine. My child, too, 


36 


BELLE SCOTT. 


was my own child ; I pressed her to my bosom and 
was almost mad with joy. 

“ The morning soon came, and the daylight was 
sweeter than I had ever seen it before ; the trees 
and the grass were greener ; all nature had fresh 
beauty, such as I never thought of ; I seemed to 
be in a land of dreams ; Heaven itself seemed to 
be near me, and angels — good, holy angels to fill 
the air around, and to be rejoicing with us. I 
walked rapidly, for the earth seemed to bear me 
up; I felt no fatigue. My heart was full of joy. 

We traveled on three nights, walking as fast as 
we could ; our provisions had got spoiled by the 
water, and we had been without anything to eat one 
day and night. Two weeks had now passed since 
we started. Sunday morning came ; Lucy was very 
sick. It was raining hard, and cold: wet and 
hungry, with my child so ill that I feared she 
would die, I did not know what to do. If I trusted 
myself to any white person, I feared that we might 
be betrayed and sent again into slavery. If I did 
not find food, fire and shelter, my child might die. 
At last I determined to ask for food at the next 
house I should see. I came to a white frame 
house, built on a little hill, with a small roofed 
porch before the door. The out-buildings seemed 
to be new ; there were a great many little trees and 


aaron's narrative. 


37 


bushes in the yard. I stopped a long time before 
I could make up my mind to go there, but Lucy 
was hungry and cold, and it was raining upon us. 
I went to the porch ; before I knocked at the 
door I heard some person reading ; I waited — -he 
was reading the Bible. 

“ Then shall the King say unto them on his right 
hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of 
the world : for I was a-hungered, and ye gave me 
meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I 
was a stranger, and ye took me in : naked, and 
ye clothed me : I was sick, and ye visited me : I 
was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall 
the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw 
we thee a-hungered, and fed thee ? or thirsty, and 
gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stran- 
ger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed 
thee ? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, 
and came unto thee ? And the King shall answer 
and say unto them, verily I say unto you, inas- 
much as ye have done it unto one of the least of 
these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, 
depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
prepared for the devil and his angels : for I was a- 
hungered, and ye gave me no meat : I was thirsty, 
and ye gave me no drink : I was a stranger, and 


38 


BELLE SCOTT. 


ye took me not in : naked, and ye clothed me not : 
sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then 
shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw 
we thee a-hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or 
naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister 
unto thee ? Then shall he answer them, saying, 
verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not 
to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 
And these shall go away into everlasting punish- 
ment : but the righteous into life eternal. 

“ After he had read, he prayed so loud that I 
could hear every word he said. He asked God to 
give him and his wife strength at all times, to do 
whatsoever he commanded them. He prayed for 
the poor and the needy, and for those who had 
none to help or comfort them, and for all those 
who were in distress in mind, body or estate. The 
tears came into my eyes, when I heard his prayer, 
for I felt sure that he would help us. As soon as 
he got up, I knocked gently at the door. It was 
opened. The man started when he saw us — 
stepped back and looked at me, as if he was 
scared. I told him, that my child was cold, 
sick and hungry, and begged him to let me warm 
her by his fire, and for a little bread and milk. 
Lucy looked hard at the warm fire, the first she 
had seen for a week. The man and his wife 
looked at each other, and then at us, and seemed 


aaron’s narrative. 


39 


troubled. Lucy too asked for a piece of bread ; 
my whole heart was so intent on getting her 
warmed and fed, that I never thought of asking 
anything for myself, although I was hunger and 
weak, and nearly sick. The man asked me, if I 
was a runaway ; I could not tell a lie with Lucy 
in my arms ; I was silent. The man then went 
back to his Bible, and read out loud again, the 
same words that he had read before. His wife 
was standing by his side ; both of them looked as 
if they did not know what to do. He said to her, 
that we were fugitives from slavery, and if they 
harbored us, he would be fined a thousand dollars, 
and have to pay one thousand for each of us to 
our owner, and to be imprisoned six months in 
jail, under the new law of Congress, if they were 
detected. That he had voted against his neighbor, 
Squire Phillips a few weeks before, when he was 
a candidate for the legislature, because he was a 
drunkard ; and he feared Phillips would find him 
out and put the law in force against him. The 
man told his wife that for three days, he had felt 
as if some great trial was coming upon him, and 
while he was at prayer, that feeling came over 
him as a cloud of darkness. He said, they had 
set their hearts too much on the things of this 
world, and had always prospered. 

“He walked in deep study, two or three times 


40 


BELLE SCOTT. 


across the room, and then stopped and looked his 
wife in the face, and said, ‘ Jane, what shall we 
do ? ’ She made no reply. He then went back 
to the Bible still lying open on the stand, and 
read these words: ‘ Cornelius, thy prayers, and 
thine alms have come up as a memorial before 
God.’ He stood still awhile and said, I see it 
plainly now ; alms to the needy, are as acceptable 
sacrifices to God as prayers, and both together 
are remembered before him. Daniel prayed — 
prayed aloud, when he was commanded not to do 
so; and I will give these people alms, though 
commanded not to do so. He then told me to 
come in.” 


CHAPTER VII. 


aaron’s narrative. 

“ Very soon a hot breakfast was ready for us. 
Lucy was too sick to eat much, and I was too great- 
ly concerned for her, to have any relish for even the 
good food before me. The lady gave her a cup 
of tea, and toast ; undressed her, and put her in a 
soft bed. Oh ! how my heart gushed with grati- 
tude, as I saw my poor child so treated. She had 
never before slept on a feather bed, had never 
drank tea, and I had never been treated as a man 
till now. The lady bathed Lucy’s face and hands, 
and nursed her as kindly as if she had been her 
own child. She told me that she was going to a 
meeting, about four miles off, and would not be 
back till late in the afternoon. She told me to 
feel myself at home, to lie down on the same bed 
with Lucy. She darkened the windows, and bade 
me bolt the door. I told the man that I could 
read, and asked him to let me read over again in 
his Bible, the passages I had heard him read, 
while I was standing at his door. He hunted up 
the places, and brought the stand with the Bible 


42 


BELLE SCOTT. 


on it, into the room where I was. Lucy soon fell 
asleep, and I sat at her side, and read the pas- 
sages over and oyer again. I wondered how so 
good a man could doubt whether it was his duty 
to take care of my child ; when he could do so 
with such words in God’s book, right before his 
eyes. 4 Whatsoever ye would, that others should 
do unto you, do ye even so unto them.’ If his 
child was sick, and I could help him, would he 
not wish that I should do so? 4 Whosoever 
offendeth one of these little ones, that believe in 
me, better were it for him that a millstone were 
hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea.’ 
I had always taught Lucy, from her early child- 
hood, to believe, trust, and obey our Saviour — she 
did so from her heart. Could this man then have 
offended her, by letting her stay out in the cold 
rain, and refusing her food and warmth, when it 
was in his power to give her both ? 

“She was sick and in slavery, though not in 
prison ; how could he refuse even for a moment to 
aid her ! After a while the lady came home, and 
brought with her the preacher, she had been to 
hear. He was an old man, with white hair. At 
first he did not talk much, but after dinner they 
talked a great deal ; my room was separated from 
theirs only by a plank partition ; the door was part 
of the time ajar, and I could hear what they said. 


aaron's narrative. 


43 


“ My friend’s name was Peter Browne, and his 
wife’s, Jane. The preacher seemed to be an old 
friend, and called them by their first names. He 
told them, to cultivate holiness of heart ; to obey 
all God’s commandments, and to seek, as for a 
pearl without price, perfect love and peace with 
God. He told them of the faith and trials of the 
early Christians; how they suffered all their worldly 
goods to be taken from them, and were cast into 
prison — that some of them were burned up in 
fire, rather than disobey any of God’s command- 
ments. 

“ Mr. Browne asked the preacher’s opinion about 
the late act of Congress. The preacher told him, 
he thought it wrong, to talk on such subjects on the 
Sabbath day, and did not answer his question, till 
Mr. Browne said, ‘ What should I do if one of these 
fugitives should come to my house, and ask for 
food ? What is my duty in such a case ? It is 
impossible for any man to know at what minute 
it may occur to him.’ 

“ Mr. Patterson said, ‘ It is our duty, to obey 
the laws of our country. The Scriptures expressly 
command that we shall be subject to the powers 
that be. And this commandment,’ he said, ‘was 
given, when the governments of the earth were 
much more oppressive than now.’ 

“ Mr. Browne said, ‘ That was true, but the very 


44 


BELLE SCOTT. 


same apostles who wrote this, themselves refused 
to obey the command of their superiors, when 
they forbade them to preach the Gospel.’ 

“ ‘ Ah ! ’ said Mr. Patterson, ‘ they chose to obey 
God, rather than man. This is our duty in all 
cases, where the commandments of men forbid 
duties which God enjoins/ 

“ Mr. Browne said, ‘ God does in all parts of 
the Bible command us to feed the hungry, to 
help the poor and needy ; to be a friend to the 
fatherless, the widows and to all that are oppressed; 
and that the condition of slaves, was as helpless 
as that of widows and orphans, or strangers. 
Shall I, ought I to obey, 5 said he with great 
earnestness, ‘any law of man, which either in 
words, or in substance, forbids me to feed the 
hungry, to clothe the naked, to help him who is 
ready to perish ? Is it my duty to do so ? If so, 
in what part of the Bible is such duty revealed ? 
by what course of fair argument, am I to be con- 
vinced it is so ?’ 

“ ‘ The Constitution, the organic law of our coun- 
try, made by wise and patriotic men, requires the 
surrender of fugitive slaves. No human instru- 
ment ever has been, ever will be, perfect. The 
best men are controlled by circumstances, and 
must do as they can, in view of all the circum- 
stances that surround them. Slavery existed in 


aaron’s narrative. 


45 


nearly all the states, when this Constitution was 
adopted ; and the return of a fugitive from slavery, 
only places him in the condition in which he was 
born, and gives peace to the country. Without 
this clause, it may be, that our union never would 
have been formed. It does not make any man a 
slave ; it only obliges us not to intermeddle with 
the slaves of our fellow citizens in other states. 
And as this is a constitutional provision, it is but 
right to make laws to carry it into full effect. It 
is a compromise of conflicting principles ; and the 
laws that are made pursuant to it, should of course 
be obeyed by all good men.’ 

“‘Yes,’ said Mr. Browne, ‘it is indeed a com- 
promise; but what sort of compromise? The 
slaveholder robs his slave of all his earnings, of 
his wife, of his children, of his liberty, dearer than 
life ; and we on our side have ‘ compromised ’ with 
him to protect and support him in this wrong- 
doing and sin. Is not he who keeps guard for 
the robber, to secure to him his prey, as guilty as 
the robber himself? Two men compromise away 
the rights of a third person, who is no party to 
their compact, and whose rights are either stricken 
down by their agreement, or kept down by it, and 
each agrees with an oath , to support the other in 
their joint iniquity : is this such an agreement as 
Christian men may make or support ? The return 
4 


46 


BELLE SCOTT. 


of the fugitive does place him in a worse state 
than he would be but for such return. He would 
be free if it were not for these laws making it our 
duty, as you say, to send him back. It is true, it 
obliges us not to intermeddle with our neighbor’s 
slaves : but is it not our duty to intermeddle with 
them, when the fugitive knocks at our door and 
asks shelter and food, sympathy and protection ? 
Is not this very agreement an open denial of God’s 
authority ? He commands us to do these things, 
and this is an agreement on our part, not to do 
them. Imperfection may exist of necessity, but 
not sin ; God has not imposed a necessity for 
sinning on any people.” 

“ Mr. Patterson said, ‘ But, brother Browne, re- 
member, that many of our best men are bound by 
their oaths to support this Constitution ; the whole 
of it, including, of course, all its parts.’ 

“ ‘ Yes,’ replied Mr. Browne, ‘ but if a man takes 
an oath to burn my house, or murder my family, 
or to burn a city, or murder all the people he 
meets on the streets ; does his oath give him any 
greater right to do so than he had before ? If so, 
a man has only to take an oath that he will dis- 
obey every commandment of God, and every law 
of man, and then he will be guiltless, no matter 
what sins and outrages he may commit. If the 
thing itself is sinful, the oath to commit or to con- 


aaron’s narrative. 


47 


tinue in it, is an additional sin. If two men rob 
you, and divide the spoil, and each binds himself 
by an oath to sustain the other in his wrong, does 
that give them any right to keep their ill-gotten 
gain ? When a band of men at Jerusalem, agreed 
with an oath to kill St. Paul, they had no greater 
right to do so, than they had before. At least 
Paul thought so, for he accepted an escort, and 
escaped. 

“ ‘ When Herod agreed with an oath, to give to 
the daughter of Herodias whatsoever she would 
ask, even to the half of his kingdom ; had he any 
more right to behead John the Baptist at her re- 
quest, than he had before ? This too was a 6 com- 
promise,’ between Herod and the dancing girl; 
the one demanded, and the other gave ; but John 
the Baptist was not consulted in the compromise 
and was beheaded.’ 

“ ‘ Well,’ said Mr. Patterson, ‘ the case is really 
a difficult one.’ 

“ ‘ I see now, no difficulty whatever in it,’ re- 
plied Mr. Browne. ‘ It is my undoubted right to 
read the whole Bible, and to obey every command- 
ment in it. God had the right to command , and 
as his accountable and moral creature, it is my 
duty to obey Him. The one is the inevitable re- 
sult of the other. It seems to me, that if it is not 
every man’s duty to obey the whole Bible, it was 


48 


BELLE SCOTT. 


not God’s, right to command every man to do so, 
and so the result would be impious at least. Now 
what God has made it every man’s duty to do, 
He has given every man on earth the right to do. 
The duty came from God, and the right to dis- 
charge it, is also from God himself. Any law, 
therefore, which even tends to hinder any man 
from discharging any duty revealed in the Bible, 
impairs his religious freedom. Every man on this 
earth has the right to obey all the commandments 
of God, and this right has always been claimed in 
the United States. When, therefore, God com- 
mands me to shelter the outcast, to aid the poor 
and needy, to be a friend to the friendless, I can 
see no cloud upon my path of duty. I walk in it 
with the full sunlight of God blazing from the 
Bible upon me, and have no more doubt than I 
would have, if an angel from heaven were standing 
by my side, and guiding my every footstep.’ 

“ ‘ Brother Browne, that may be well enough ; it 
seems all plain to you ; but do you not fear that 
if you step aside into this new, and as yet, untrod- 
den path, you may encounter difficulties of which 
you are not now aware ? Is it not best to be on the 
safe side ? Prudence is a virtue. You have a 
family to support, and have friends who are inter- 
ested in your welfare ; be cautious ; no man was 
ever hurt by being prudent and cautious, while 


AARON’S NARRATIVE. 


49 


thousands have been ruined by rashness. Your 
good old father, who is now in heaven, never en- 
tertained such thoughts or followed any such 
courses as you seem now inclined to enter upon. 
Wait; be patient; pray; read your Bible; and 
meddle not with those who are given to strife.’ 

“‘Why read my Bible, unless I do what it 
clearly teaches ? Why shall I bow my knee to 
Christ and call him Lord, Lord, if I do not the 
things he commands ? Why go to meetings, but 
for additional help and strength to discharge what- 
soever duties God has revealed ? It may be true 
that my father did not do as I intend; but each 
age has its own especial duties : the light that I 
have he may never have enjoyed. Prudence, may 
indeed be a virtue, but is it prudent to disobey 
God ? Rashness has ruined thousands ; but is it 
not rash even to madness, to disobey a clear com- 
mand of God ? There are dangers to my worldly 
interests in my path ; but are there not also dan- 
gers to my eternal life, if I disobey a clear com- 
mand from God ? ’ 

“ ‘ You are right, brother Browne, I see it, and 
what is more, I feel it too. You are right brother. 
We must at all hazards obey God ; and if men, by 
their laws, command us to disobey him, it is our 
duty and therefore our right, to disregard all such 
laws, and we are cowards and worse, if we do not 


50 


BELLE SCOTT. 


do so. The kingdom of God has ever been at 
war with the Prince of the powers of the air, and it 
would be strange indeed if we in our country 
should find no warfare. Asia and Europe have 
had their conflicts, which arose from their popular 
sins, and we may have ours ; perhaps as fierce, 
as bitter, as bloody and unrelenting, as theirs. 
The human heart in all ages, has been the same. 
Civilization has only hidden its tiger passions, and 
these when aroused, are as fierce in their wrath as 
they were in the days of Nero, or on the plains of 
India. Slavery is the sin of America, as idolatry 
was that of ancient Pome ; and the one may cost 
as many martyrdoms as did the other, before it 
shall be overthrown. The laws that sustain Slavery 
in this country, are as grossly wicked, as those 
that sustained the idolatry of the Roman empire ; 
and it is as much our duty to disobey them, as it 
was the duty of the early Christians to refuse to 
worship idols. All sins dishonor God, and destroy 
man ; and this sin of slave-holding, tramples down 
into the very dust, the children of the most High ; 
classes them with the beasts of the field. God 
made man in his own image, and gave him 
dominion over the beasts of the forest and the 
field, and the fowls of the air, and the creeping 
things of the earth, and the fish of the sea. He 
only, of all creatures on earth, knows the use of 


aaron’s narrative. 


51 


fire ; he only, laughs and weeps ; and above all, he 
only, can be taught to worship and obey God ; the 
beasts never can. God has surrounded him with 
his protecting care, by laws obligatory upon all 
men. He has commanded all men to love him, 
as they love themselves, and to do to him, as 
they would others should do unto them.’ 

“ ‘ You are right too, in another of your asser- 
tions. It is every man’s right, to do everything 
that God by his revealed word, has clearly made 
it his duty to do. Now as God has in the Bible, 
revealed to man the whole circle of his duties ; to 
God, to Christ, to the Church, to his father and 
mother, to his wife and children, to his friends 
and neighbors, to his country, and to all man- 
kind ; it follows inevitably, that he cannot be a 
slave ; for no slave can discharge all these duties : 
his very position as a slave, makes it impossible 
for him to do so.’ 

“ 6 The Bible assumes the existence of God ; it 
also assumes the free agency of man. Both alike 
are true, and hence it is, that the Bible is the 
great liberator of the world ; and those who teach 
it to others, and obey it themselves, arc the best 
friends of human freedom. The missionary enter- 
prise is therefore, above all others, that to which 
men must look, and on which, under God, they 


52 


BELLE SCOTT. 


should rely, for the deliverance of the earth from 
tyranny and despotism.’ 

“ Mrs. Browne now came in, and invited them 
out to supper. After supper the conversation 
commenced again on the same subject. 

“Mr. Brown said: ‘I have taken an oath to 
support the Constitution of the United States, 
and that instrument, you say, requires us to 
surrender fugitives from slavery. What am I 
to do ? I wish to keep my oath. I have never 
willingly violated my plighted faith — and there 
is too another engagement upon me not less 
sacred. When I joined the Church, I covenanted 
with God, to obey all his commandments. 

“ ‘If the Constitution does indeed require us to 
surrender fugitive slaves, then the law which 
forbids us to harbor them, in its principle and 
spirit, requires us to withhold food and shelter 
from them, so that they may return as soon as 
possible to their masters ; every act by which the 
slave is better able to go on his way to Canada, 
violates the spirit if not the very letter of that 
law. Here then there are conflicting laws ; that of 
God commands me to feed the hungry — to 
shelter the outcast— and that of Congress forbids 
me to do so. 

“‘Prayers and alms are alike acceptable to 
God now, as they were in the days of Cornelius, 


aaron’s narrative. 


53 


whose aims and pikers were both remembered 
before Him. A law of Congress that would forbid 
us to pray, would clearly violate our rights of 
conscience, and impair our religious liberty. 

“‘Does not the law that forbids us to show 
mercy to the poor, have the same effect? Is 
there no protection to religious liberty in this 
whole land ? 

“ ‘ Where is the difference between a law which 
commands us to renounce Christ in words, as a 
law of the Roman empire did, and one that com- 
mands us to disobey him ? — between a law that 
forbids us to read the Bible, and one that forbids 
us to obey it, after we have it ? I can see none. 
And if we are bound to do this by the Constitution, 
the religious freedom of the whole people of the 
United States, is as fully overthrown here to-day, 
as that liberty ever has been, or now is in any 
country on earth. I will not, for my part, obey 
any such law. ‘As for me and my house, we will 
follow God, and keep his commandments.’ 

“ My heart leaped with joy, when I heard him 
say this, for I feared for the very life of my child, 
if he should make up his mind not to do so. If 
he turned us out, who would take care of us? 
My child was sick ; had a fever. I was hungry 
and could not work, lest I should be detected and 
taken back into slavery. I felt that we were 
5 


54 


BELLE SCOTT. 


now safe. The good man, Mr. Browne, had made 
up his mind to obey his God, as well as to pray 
to Him. 

“ Mr. Browne said : ‘ This man, has as good a 
right to give his children freedom, as to give 
them food.’ 

“I never heard anybody say so before; but 
I always thought so. 

“ Mr. Patterson said: ‘The laws in the slave 
states support slavery.’ 

“ 6 Yes, said Mr. Browne, 6 in some of them they 
allow horse-racing, and gambling, and liquor sell- 
ing, going to theaters, and selling bad books. 
It would be a strange thing if Christian people did 
all these things, and then said, the laws allowed 
them to do so. The law compels no man to be a 
slaveholder. He can leave the state with his slaves, 
and set them free in the free states. Many have 
done so, and all who will not do so are without 
excuse.’ 

“ 6 There must, I think,’ said Mr. Patterson , 6 be 
some mistake about my construction of the Con- 
stitution. Every man in the United States, has 
the undoubted right to believe in God, and to 
obey Him. To read the whole Bible, and prac- 
tice all that is taught in it. The people of the 
United States have always thought so. Surely 
there can be no error in this opinion, which has 


aaron’s narrative. 


55 

been held by the whole people, ever since this 
has been a government ? I will look further into 
this matter. My opinions have probably been 
too hastily formed.’ 

“ The next morning Mr. Patterson went away. 
We staid upward of a week at Mr. Browne’s. 
Lucy was too ill to travel. When she got better, 
one evening we attempted to leave, and bidding 
Mrs. Browne' farewell, with many thanks for her 
kindness, we set out. Mr. Browne went with us, 
but we had gone only a few steps from the house, 
when it was plain that Lucy could not go on. 
Mr. Browne told us to come back, and stay a few 
days longer. 

“ I ought to have mentioned that Mrs. Browne 
gave Lucy some clothes. They treated us with 
great kindness, which day by day increased.” 


CHAPTER VIII. 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 

Near the village of Burtonville, in the eastern 
part of Virginia, an old church had been standing 
for a century. The people who worshiped in it, 
had been for many months without a pastor. 

On the first Sunday in November, in the year 
1833, the Rev. Mr. St. John, by an invitation 
from the members of the church, was there to 
preach. He was without charge at the time, and 
had been highly spoken of as a suitable person 
for their pastor. A great many carriages stood 
near the church, with colored men as drivers and 
servants, lounging in groups about them. 

Plethoric gentlemen, whose faces showed that 
their wine and their cheer was good ; elderly ladies, 
whose glossy hair, neatly parted in front, set off 
the frills of their white caps with best effect ; 
young ladies richly dressed; young gentlemen 
with neat canes, well-made coats, and jeweled 
pins; filled the pews. These people, from the 
village and the country around it, had come up 
to worship. 

( 56 ) 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 


57 


Mr. St. John was tall, gaunt, and lean. The 
skin upon his face and hands, had a sickly-yellow 7 
hue: nothing about him exhibited the great 
talents he was said to have, except his large black 
eyes ; and they, when he was in repose, seemed 
to be slightly vailed with film ; but when he be- 
came animated, they shone and glared with the 
light almost of insanity itself. 

After the introductory service, he announced 
his text. “ Servants, be obedient to them that 
are your masters according to the flesh, with fear 
and trembling, not with eye-service as men- 
pleasers, but as the servants of Christ.” 

All were surprised. The duties of servants! 
They were outside of the house with the horses ! 
No person to whom the word could rigidly be ap- 
plied, was within the walls of the building. The 
matter was new ; all were aroused and attentive. 
We have no space to furnish our readers with the 
whole of this discourse. Extracts are all that our 
limits allow. 

"It is the duty of servants to obey their 
masters. God himself has positively commanded 
them, in the text, to do so. To refuse, or to with- 
hold that obedience, is to resist an ordinance of 
God. 

" The relation of master and servant, had been 
ordained and established by God in his infinite 


58 


BELLE SCOTT. 


wisdom and goodness. It is of mutual benefit to 
the parties who enjoy that relation. It gives to 
the master, leisure for mental and moral culture ; 
to the servants, the certainty of food, shelter, 
clothing, home, and relief from perplexing cares. 
True, the relation may be abused, and he was 
willing to admit, that in many instances it had 
been abused. But so, too, had the relation of 
husband and wife ; parent and child ; and all the 
relations of domestic life. Man is morally ruined 
by the fall, and the serpent’s trail is in every 
household. 

“ The relation appeared first to have been es- 
tablished in the curse of Canaan : afterward it 
was not only permitted, but enjoined upon the 
Israelites to make servants of the heathen round 
about them. It has existed among all civilized 
nations, and in all ages since the flood. 

“ The most serious evils result to society from 
visionary schemes of philanthropy, that destroy 
it. Where it no longer exists, except as a mer- 
cenary relation, the master and servant have no 
common interest. They are heads of different 
households. The one has no certain home ; the 
other, no established service; and hence the 
domestic arrangements of the master are fre- 
quently, and sadly disturbed for want of service, 
when it is most needed ; and the poor servant, too 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 


59 


often, is left to starve or beg. The sad condition 
of the free negroes and mulattoes in our own state, 
and indeed, wherever they are, is additional proof 
that the relation is blessed. They are destitute, 
afflicted, tormented by hunger, suffering with cold, 
in want and wretchedness, crowded together into 
seething and festering sinks of disease and vice. 
It is necessary only to see them as they are, to 
be convinced that those who have released them 
from their light service, have been deluded by 
erroneous views of duty. How much happier 
would they be, how infinitely happier for this life, 
and how much more hope for them for the life to 
come ; if they could but have the care of Christian 
masters, and the gentle guidance and admonition 
of Christian mistresses.” 

He then, in touching language, showed the 
folly of those who, under the guise of philanthropy, 
have now actually organized themselves, with a 
determined purpose to break up this relation in 
the southern states. “They, or their ancestors, 
had, in their own states, taken from the couch of 
the sick and the dying, the care of servants born 
in the household, and at all times integral parts 
of the family ; care, scarcely less tender and unre- 
mitting than a mother’s love^ and provided as its 
substitute, the watching of the hired nurse, who 
dozed and dreamed at the bedside of her dying 


60 


BELLE SCOTT. 


mistress. And they now wish, against our will, 
to reduce our hearths and households to the same 
sad condition. * 

“It is the duty of all to resist these encroach- 
ments upon rights so valuable and so sacred. To 
resist, as Christians should, with the meekness of 
angels, but with the firmness of heroes and of 
martyrs. If the urgent demands now made upon 
us, were for a cloak or a coat, or to go with the 
exactors a mile, it would be our duty to yield ; but 
when our hearthstones are no longer sacred ; 
when the established institutions of the state and 
of domestic life, are ruthlessly invaded; then, it 
becomes us, by our self-respect, our love of wives, 
and children, and home, our love of the Bible and 
of holy things, to resist to the uttermost, the 
attacks so wickedly made, and so incessantly 
repeated. 

“ In a moment of weakness, and for want of 
due reflection, we have already yielded too much.” 
Tie had shown that the relation of master and 
servant was a natural one; approved and sanc- 
tioned by the Father of mercies; “as that is 
right, we must take that as the stand-point, and 
viewed from this position, the trade, by which our 
servants were brought here, was also right; and 
that by means of which they follow their masters 
to new and distant states, is right. We have suf- 


EEY. MR. ST. JOHN. 


61 


fered the agents in these trades, to be denounced 
and defamed. We have,” he regretted to say, 
“ ourselves, too often given point to the sting of 
these reproaches, by refusing to admit into our so- 
ciety, well-educated, and well-behaved men, whose 
only offense is, to act as merchants, in transfer- 
ring, when necessity requires it, servants from one 
state, already full of them, to another, where their 
services are of more value. We should humble 
ourselves, and repent of this gross injustice and 
deep wrong. We have sometimes done more — 
we have refused to these gentlemen the benefit of 
the sanctuary, and of alliance with the church. 
We do not so with merchants in other lawful 
traffic. This is but the result of prejudice and 
perverted sympathy. We have listened so often 
to the assailants of our institutions, that we our- 
selves have imperceptibly, become imbued in part, 
at least, with their unholy prejudices and unwise 
views, and suffer our conduct to be controlled by 
principles to which we are, in practice, opposed. 

“ Our repentance should be speedy and deep. 
We have wronged our best friends. They are of 
great service to the state, and to our institutions, 
and our gratitude and regard should be commen- 
surate with the benefits they have conferred. 
What would become of the institution without these 
men ? and what with all the benefits and blessings 


62 


BELLE SCOTT. 


that result from that institution ? They are/’ he 
said, “ the very pillars of the commonwealth, which 
we by our insane prejudices, are pulling down. Let 
us reflect;” and again he urged, “let us repent 
in sackcloth and ashes.” 


CHAPTER IX. 


BENNETT LEATHERS. 

As Mr. St. John left the church, a gentleman 
stepped up to him and said: “Allow me, sir, to 
accompany you part of the way to your lodgings. 
I am so delighted with your sermon, that I wish 
to cultivate your acquaintance. My name, sir, is 
Bennett Leathers. You must have heard of Gen- 
eral Wilmot; well, sir, he is my mother’s own 
brother; and Colonel Woodman and Major Harvey, 
are my first cousins, so that you see, sir, I am of a 
good family. I live in Campbell county, where I 
have a plantation. 1 have listened to you to-day, 
and fully agree with you, in all the opinions you 
have advanced. Your arguments are conclusive; 
your logic is exact, and well applied. Indeed, sir, 
you have been of great service to the country. 
If you were to die to-morrow, sir, the country 
would owe you a debt of gratitude, which it never 
can repay. Slaves are better off than they would 
be, if they were free. Nobody but fanatics doubts 
that. Everybody who says to the contrary, sir, 
is a fanatic. The whole world calls them fanatics 
all the newspapers publish them as fanatics ; and 

( 63 ) 


64 


BELLE SCOTT. 


they are fanatics, sir. There’s my man, Joe ; I 
have but one slave sir, and that is old Joe ; the 
greatest thief and liar, sir, in the whole world, old 
Joe is — upon my honor he is, sir. Well now, I 
take care of old Joe. I give him food and cloth- 
ing, and take care of him, and keep him when I 
can, from getting drunk. I don’t work him hard, 
and keep no overseer, because you see, sir, I can- 
not afford to hire an overseer for three hundred 
dollars a year, and six barrels of flour, and two 
barrels of pork, and let him have a horse, saddle, 
and bridle, whenever he wants one, just to make 
old Joe work. So I am my own overseer ; I sit 
on the fence all day, and make old Joe work in 
the tobacco patch, and in the cornfield. I get so 
tired, that it almost kills me, but I am getting 
used to it ; and then the worst of it is, that last 
year, after all the crop was raised, and got all 
ready for the market, old Joe stole it all, little by 
little, till nothing at all was left for me ; he traded 
it off to a mean white man, who keeps a grog- 
shop, for whisky and tobacco. I did not get a 
cent for the whole crop — not enough to pay the 
taxes on the land. Now would it not be a pity 
for me to turn old J oe loose on society, and leave 
him to shift for himself? He’d starve to death, 
sir, in two weeks. He would steal everything he 
could lay his hands on too ; and would go to the 


BENNETT LEATHERS. 


b5 

penitentiary. I have tried to sell him over and 
over again, but when I take a trader to look at 
him, old Joe has got a fashion of throwing his 
elbows out of joint, and pretends it is the rheuma- 
tism, he calls it rheumatics, sir, and so no trader 
will buy him, because they say, sir, that he might 
do so, when they got him down South, and they 
could never sell him. 

“ I have come to this place for a few days, on a 
little private matter of my own; a little love 
affair, sir, under the rose. Miss Black is a 
beautiful lady ; I met her last week at a party 
and fell half in love with her. Her father is a 
merchant, sir, but he is a wholesale tobacco mer- 
chant ; and so you see, though you would hardly 
expect me to propose for a merchant’s daughter, 
yet, as her father is rich, and she is his only child, 
her wealth may be equal to my family position, and 
so make an equal match, sir. I came here day 
before yesterday, and have called four times at 
her father’s to see her, but she is too unwell to 
see me, and I am waiting at the hotel till she gets 
better. I am surprised too, at her sickness, for 
only four days ago, she was the very picture of* 
health, sir, a blooming beauty, and as merry a 
young lady, as you ever saw, sir. I once before, 
paid attention to a merchant’s daughter. She 
was from New York. I met her at the Springs. 


66 


BELLE SCOTT. 


She was a very learned lady. She believes a 
string of isms as long as her arm, and knows all 
the ologies. Her father is very rich. She will be 
worth two or three millions of dollars, when he 
dies. While she was at the Springs, she still kept 
up her studies. Every morning, she devoted one 
hour to chemistry, and every afternoon one hour 
to Bigotry. 

“Well, sir, I followed her to New York, put up 
at a hotel, and went to her father’s house. I sent 
up my card, and presently a servant came down 
stairs, and told me ‘she was not at home.’ I 
went away, and called in the afternoon, and the 
servant came down and said, ‘she was not at home.’ 
Then I called the next day, and she was out then 
too, and so I kept calling for four days, but never 
could find her in. These city ladies, sir, go out 
a great deal. They have so much shopping to do, 
and so many friends to see, that it is really a hard 
thing to find them at home. So I went back to 
the hotel, and just made up my mind to keep on 
calling, till I could find her at home ; and while 
I was standing in the parlor, a gentleman came 
up, and commenced conversation. He was very 
friendly, and we soon became acquainted : while 
we were talking, sir, another man came in, and they 
two talked apart for a little while. The other 
man went out, and soon came back somewhat 


BENNETT LEATHERS. 


67 


in liquor. I was standing up, leaning my elbow 
I on the mantlepiece, sir, when this other man 
jostled hard against me, and nearly pushed me 
down. They both apologized, and left the room 
a moment afterward; and when I felt in my 
pocket, a short time after they went away, my 
pocket-book was gone. I had barely money 
enough left to pay my bill, and bring me home, 
so that I had to leave, sir, immediately. I do 
not think the gentleman who talked to me in the 
parlor, had anything to do with it, because he 
was the only man that said a civil word to me 
while I was in New York. Everybody else was 
in too much haste to speak to me. He was a 
gentleman, sir. I am twenty-eight years of age, 
sir, and all my friends tell me that I ought to get 
married ; and I will do so, provided I can suit 
myself, sir. I have two thousand acres of land 
up in Cabell county ; but it is mountainous, and 
won’t sell yet. It is full of mineral ore, and will be 
a great fortune by-and-by ; so much, that with my 
plantation in Campbell county, and with my family 
connections, I think it right to marry a lady of 
fortune at least, if not of family. I know it is 
hardly right to marry out of my own family, sir. 
My grandfather married his first cousin, and my 
father married his first cousin, and as far back as 
I know or have heard of, my ancestors have all 


BELLE SCOTT. 


married in their own family. A good plan, sir, 
it keeps wealth in the family, and prevents those 
mesalliances that sometimes come from marrying 
strangers. But I have but one cousin, who is 
unmarried, and she is so deaf that you have to 
speak to her through a tin horn, and then she 
can’t understand more than half you say ; and she 
is twice as old as I am too, so that you see, sir, 
I cannot follow the good old time-honored usages 
of my family. I keep a list of all the ladies who 
have received especial attentions from me, with 
the very date, when any particular event has hap- 
pened that has brought the matter to a close. It 
numbers twenty-nine now, and if Miss Black shall 
follow the example of others, it will be thirty. 
Two years ago, I went out to Kentucky, sir, to 
see some relations, and there I met with a young 
lady, I should say woman, rather, for she was 
larger than I am ; she is rich, too, the daughter 
of a gentleman who sells a great many mules and 
cattle every year ; well, I went to see her, went 
once, and she sat and talked for two hours. I 
went again and something was the matter, so that 
she did not come into the room : I was in love 
with her, yes, sir, in love with her, and I went 
almost every day for two weeks. At last one 
day, just as I set my foot in the house, the door 
of a back room opened a little, a slight crack 


BENNETT LEATHERS. 


69 


only, sir ; I saw her face, but she did not say a 
& word to me. I turned round for an instant, and 
a gun went off, the whole load struck me right on 
the neck ; it knocked me down, sir ; it was a shot- 
gun loaded with beans ! I have not got over it 
yet ; my neck, you will observe, sir, is a little 
stiff now. It hurts me very much just before a 
rain ; I shall outgrow it, I have no doubt ; the 
doctors and all my friends tell me so. I had 
always been told, sir, before I went to Kentucky, 
that I must not expect as much refinement there, 
as I had been accustomed to here in Virginia, and 
I had myself observed, that when a young man 
left Virginia, and went to Kentucky only for six 
months ; when he came back his manners had 
not the softness they had before he left but I 
did not expect to find such rude people in this 
whole world. I never set foot in that house again, 
sir — upon my honor, sir, I never will. I came 
back to Virginia, as soon as I could. I like your 
doctrine, sir. When I was a boy, I went to 
boarding-school, kept by old Dr. Stephens up in 
Amherst county. He starved us almost to death, 
sir; gave us nothing but mush and molasses for 
supper, and bread and herring for breakfast, till 
we got to stealing his geese, and that brought him 
to his senses, when he found out that we had roast 
goose in our rooms, almost every night. A great 
6 


70 


BELLE SCOTT. 


sin, that, sir, but I repented of it. Well, sir, while 
I was there, I became pious ; I got to be so pious, 
that I would not walk as far as from here across 
the street on Sunday. Indeed I would not have 
done so on Sunday, to save your life. I think 
again of the happy days I enjoyed when I was 
pious. I ’ll do all I can to practice what you have 
told us to-day. Indeed I will, sir ; upon my honor 
I will, sir. I have counted the cost, and made up 
my mind, and I will do it. I will not be a doer 
only of the word, but a hearer also ; no, that’s not 
it; let me see how it is, sir. I am afraid I have 
forgot it already. Not a doer of the word — no, 
(oh, my neck hurts me so, that I cannot remem- 
ber anything now, as I used to) not a hearer of 
the word — but a doer ; that is it, sir, I believe. 
If you will go to Richmond, I will introduce you 
to the best society in the city. Richmond is a 
great place, sir. It gives law to the whole Union. 
Chief Justice Marshall gave law to the one party, 
and half a dozen of men there govern Virginia ; 
and Virginia rules the Union by means of the 
other party. And so between them, they have 
governed this whole Union. Triumph of mind, 
of intellect, and intelligence, sir ! let people make 
what form of government they please, whether it 
is a republic, or what not, gentlemen of birth, 
fortune and education, always will, in the long run, 


BENNETT LEATHERS. 


71 


be the actual rulers. The people may vote, but 
the gentlemen will settle the principles they sup- 
port, and then it makes no difference what men 
are elected to carry these principles into effect. 
Mr. Stephens told me so, sir; and he is the 
greatest lawyer, I believe, in the whole world.” 

Mr. St. John inquired, “whether they were 
near the place, to which he was going ?” “ Near it, 
sir? — why we have passed it almost a mile, but I 
am so delighted with your society, that I could 
but extend our walk as far as possible. Your 
ideas, my dear sir, respecting the slave-trade, 
exactly coincide with my own. Slavery is right. 
Everybody, whose opinion is worth having, knows 
that, by this time. All the churches that persons, 
like you and me, sir, care to go to, say it is right. 
Well then, that being so, of course it was right to 
bring the slaves here, and it is right to take them 
to the new states. The logic, sir, is as clear as 
sunshine. Do meet me in Richmond soon; I have 
a project in my head, that I want to consult my 
friends there about. I’ll mention it to you now, 
sir ; but in confidence, strict confidence, sir. It is 
this; we have been threatening to dissolve the 
Union so long, that our warnings have no good 
effect, as they once had. Now, sir, my plan is 
this ; instead of telling the people of the free states, 
that we will dissolve the Union ; let us threaten to 


72 


BELLE SCOTT. 


burn the Capitol. That will surprise them ; and 
it is so easily done too. If we attempt to dissolve 
the Union, the men that live up in the moun- 
tains, and on Mud creek, and Turtle creek, and 
in such places, may get scared ; and vote against 
the measure, in our own State ; but the other can 
be done without consulting them at all. Now, sir, 
here’s the place you make your home at, while 
you are here. I will write to you in a few days, 
and I hope you will write me in reply. Good-by, 
sir. Oh, how delighted I am with your sermon ! 
Rely upon it, the lessons you have taught, shall 
not be lost upon me. I will be a hearer of the 
word, and not a doer only. Good night, sir.” 

As Mr. St. John walked up the path that led 
to the house, he said : “ That is a strange young 
gentleman indeed. He is no doubt very amiable.” 

As Mr. Leathers walked on his way, he rubbed 
his hands and said to himself : “ The very thing — 
clear as sunshine. I wonder that I never saw it 
so distinctly before, as I now do. Sermons are 
good things ; they place matters upon right prin- 
ciples, and enable us, who have less leisure to 
think about such things than ministers ; to give a 
reason, and a good one too, for what we do and 
believe in. I always thought, that free negroes 
are a pest and a nuisance, and would be better off 
a great deal, if they all had masters, and I know 


BENNETT LEATHERS. 


73 


it now. It will be better all round, for the blacks 
and whites, when all the negroes and mulattoes 
are slaves. They are not fit to be free. They 
can’t take care of themselves. That thought of 
his, about negro drivers being made respectable, 
looks queer. Indeed it does ; but he made the 
matter so plain, that no person can have any 
doubt now, about it. I’m glad of it, I am very 
glad of it.” 




CHAPTER X. 


BENNETT LEATHERS. 

The family of Bennett Leathers had all the 
ancient honor and respectability which he claimed. 
But he was poor. True, he had his plantation in 
Campbell county, and his immense tract of wild 
land in Cabell county, but these yielded him no 
present income. To supply his daily wants, he 
was compelled to borrow small sums of money 
from his friends, and these applications had become 
so frequent, that they were heartily tired of him. 

Soon after he heard the sermon of Mr. St. 
John, he met that gentleman in Richmond. Their 
greeting was cordial. “I am so glad to see you,” 
said Mr. Leathers, “ because I want to consult you 
on a matter that may be of deep importance to 
me. I know that I can confide in you as a friend. 
Miss Black, sir, continued sick all the time I was 
at Burtonville, and I half believe she only pre- 
tended to be so, to keep from seeing me ; because 
I have heard that the very day that I came away, 
she was out at a dinner-party. I wanted to un- 
bosom myself to you, dear sir, and talked of my 
( 74 ) 


BENNETT LEATHERS. 


75 

own affairs, sir, very freely, as you were a stranger, 
hoping that you would say something in reply, that 
would enable me to go further, and open my whole 
heart, but you did not — you were silent, sir. I 
have at all times, since that, regretted that I had 
not been more bold, sir, and asked your Christian 
advice.” 

“ I shall be very happy to be of service to you, es- 
pecially in the way of advice,” replied Mr. St. John, 

"Thank you, sir, thank you. It’s the very 
thing I want at this time. I get plenty of it from 
others, but I am almost sure their advice would 
not suit me. My matter is this, sir. You con- 
demned as wrong, the prejudice that people enter- 
tain against gentlemen engaged in the slave-trade, 
and their families. They call ’em soul-drivers, 
sir ; and reproach ’em with bad names. I felt the 
force of your reasoning, sir, and am convinced 
that you are right. I told you, too, that I would 
be a doer, or a hearer of the word, I don’t remem- 
ber which. Well, now, my dear sir, the case with 
me, is just this. I know a young lady, a widow, 
good-looking enough, and who has a cash capital 
of two hundred thousand dollars, at least people 
say so, and I believe she has twenty thousand at 
least. Her father was a member of Congress, but 
was afterward a clerk at Washington city, and 
rather poor. She married a negro-trader, sir, 


76 


BELLE SCOTT. 


and he died a year or so after the marriage, leaving 
to his widow, who was much younger, his whole 
fortune. The family have lost their position — 
and I am almost sure that I can win her heart and 
hand, sir. You see, sir, how it is with me — here 
is a splendid fortune, and an accomplished lady ; 
at least people say she is accomplished. Now how 
would it look for a Leathers — why sir, one of my 
ancestors was secretary to a governor in this colony, 
before the Revolutionary war ; I don’t know what 
the governor’s name was, but when I see cousin 
Kitty Leathers, she can tell me — she is the cousin 
who is so deaf; — the name of that old governor, 
and the pedigree of our family, are almost the only 
things she knows, sir ; well how would it look for 
a Leathers to marry a negro trader’s widow? 
That’s the matter that troubles me ; I could marry 
a tobacco merchant’s daughter — I could do that, 
sir, if she was rich and pretty— but it appears to 
me as if it would be going one or two steps further 
down, to marry a negro trader’s widow. But I see 
no reason in it, sir ; the trade is lawful, and should 
be respectable.” 

“ Ah, my dear sir, I see exactly, your difficulty. 
Do you love the lady ?” 

“ I am not as yet, very well acquainted with her. 
T have kept away from that kind of people. When 
I meet a negro-trader in the street, I give him as 


BENNETT LEATHERS. 


77 

wide a berth as possible, for fear that he may 
touch my clothes. But I am sure of one thing, 
sir ; I am so fond of ladies’ society, that I can love 
any woman who has a fortune, and will accept my 
heart. It ’s an easy thing to fall in love, sir ; I 
have done so twice in one day and eight or ten 
times in one trip to the Springs ; other gentlemen 
do so too. I believe ladies find it rather harder, 
and but few of them can be deeply, passionately in 
love sir, oftener than once or twice in six months. 
But courtship makes love — that ’s the sense of 
courtship.” 

“ There is no wrong in your wishing a fortune,” 
replied Mr. St. J ohn ; “ you want fortune, and the 
lady and her friends want position. Each has 
what the other wants. Such contracts are fair, 
when the matter is well understood on both sides ; 
and the parties, it seems to me, should be made 
happier by it. As for the disgrace that is sup- 
posed to attach to the lady, because she is the 
widow of a slave merchant, that is all the result of 
vulgar prejudice. The trade in slaves, is as well 
established as that in flour or tobacco ; and slaves 
are staple commodities as well as wheat, and cotton 
and corn. Now why shall the dealer in sugar and 
cotton and wheat be respectable, and the merchant 
in slaves disgraced ? It is an act of mere childish 
folly, and I do hope you will give the influence of 
7 


78 


BELLE SCOW. 


your family position to break down this prejudice. 
I have fully made up my mind, to give my whole 
influence as a minister, to destroy it as soon as 
possible.” 

“ Thank you, my dear sir,” said Mr. Bennett, 
“ that is exactly the advice I want. If I do win 
the lady, I shall if possible have you to unite us 
in marriage. Hold yourself in readiness, my 
dear sir, for my courtships are always short.” 


CHAPTER XI. 


aaron’s narrative. 

“ My child was very sick ; she had a cough and 
fever, and I believe, would have died but for the 
great care of Mrs. Browne. She afterward got 
well enough to travel, and I wanted to go on as 
soon as we could. 

“ In two days more Mrs. Browne said we could 
reach Canada, and then, even if my master him- 
self should come there, he could not take us away ; 
we would be as free there as he was. 

“ I wanted to be at work and get money, so that 
I could, by my labor, support myself and child. 
I meant to send Lucy to school, and thought it 
might be, that some day I could buy a bit of land, 
and build a cabin on it, and have a cow and poultry, 
and other things of our oivn. I wanted, above all 
things in the world, to see my child where she could 
draw one breath of air, and say, ‘ I am free ! ’ 

“ One night Mr. Browne got his wagon ready ; 
we bade Mrs. Browne good-by ; our eyes filled with 
tears as we did so, and she wiped her eyes two or 
three times as she followed us to the door. 

“We had gone about a mile, and were going down 

( 79 ) 


80 


BELLE SCOTT. 


a steep hill, at the bottom of which is a creek ; 
before we got down the hill, four men came out 
from some bushes at the side of the road, and 
stopped us. One of them was Phillips, Mr. 
Browne’s neighbor, who said : 

“ ‘ Now, we ’ve caught you at it. You always 
denied that you are an Abolitionist, and here you 
are caught in the very act of stealing niggers. 
You — a law-abiding man, as you always say 
— are mashing the whole Constitution of the 
United States to pieces under your dirty feet. 
You are throwing contempt on the laws of your 
country. You had me indicted and fined for sell- 
ing whisky without license, and it’s my turn now. 
Temperance men are not to be trusted ; sooner or 
later Abolitionism will show itself in ’em. One 
leads right to the other.’ 

“ Another man, Jim Bates, came to me and said : 
‘This is him, and this is the same humpback 
gal. I ’ve seen ’em both a hundred times, and 
can swear to ’em on a stack of Bibles.’ 

“ They took us to Down’s tavern : as soon as we 
got there, the landlady came in, and looking at 
Lucy, said : ‘ I know that dress that child ’s got 
on ; it is made out of one of Mrs. Browne’s old 
ones that I ’ve seen her wear over and over again.’ 

“ I cannot tell how I felt. If a thunderbolt had 
struck Lucy to the ground, I could have borne it 


aaron’s narrative. 


81 


better, but for her to be taken back into slavery — 
for myself to be sold, as I was sure I would be, far 
away from her, was too hard for human nature to 
bear ; I groaned aloud in the bitter sorrow of my 
heart. When I looked at Mr. Browne, I could 
find no help, because I knew that for my child 
and myself, all this had come upon him, I had 
begged him to let me into his house and warm my 
child by his fire, and give her bread, and for this 
he was a prisoner, and in the hands of his enemies. 

“ I watched him, for he was near me, and we were 
both in deep misery ; I saw him lift up his eyes, 
and move his lips, and then he was calm, and 
looked on the people round him, with the same 
smile with which he had always looked on me. 

“ I asked him to buy Lucy. At first he told 
me he had no money ; but when he looked at her, 
and studied over the matter a minute or two, he 
asked her price of Jim Bates, 

“ Bates said that he had no right to sell her ; he 
was to arrest her and myself and take us back to 
our master: but that he would not sell her for 
two thousand dollars, if he could. '‘I’d rather,’ 
he said, ‘take back one runaway nigger, even 
if she is but a humpbacked girl, than have any 
man’s ten thousand dollars.’ 

The next morning we were put into a wagon, 
and started back. As they were taking us out 


82 


BELLE SCOTT 


of the State of Ohio, I still hoped that something 
would happen, so that we would be free. Every 
person that met us, I thought, would be a friend, 
and give us help; but they rode by as if our 
distress was no concern of theirs. We came to 
the Ohio river, and were ferried over it, Hope 
died in my heart. The whole world looked black, 
and the air seemed heavy. Before me was a life 
of bondage, without mercy for my child and for 
myself; the looks of a sullen master, the whip, 
separation from my child, and slavery for life. 
The world seemed as if no God was in it or above 
it. My heart swelled too full for tears. Death I 
I would gladly have died ! 

“We were taken to our master’s house. He was 
glad to see us, but very angry that I had run off. 
He told me that this caper of mine had run him 
in debt five hundred dollars, and would break 
him up. I told him I was afraid I would be sold 
from my child, and that was my reason for doing 
as I had done. He put us together at first, in 
an upper room in his house, and tied my hands 
to a ring in the wall. After a few days I was 
taken to my quarters, with Lucy, and tied ; and. a 
white man left to keep guard over us. On the 
same day a man came and bought me. He gave 
a thousand dollars for me, put a manacle on my 
wrists, and told me to move off.” 


CHAPTER XII. 


THE WEDDING. 

The guests had gathered at the house of Mrs. 
Tullis, to attend her wedding. All the family of 
the Leathers’ who could attend, were there, includ- 
ing the first and second and other cousins, in 
degrees so distant, that no one except cousin 
Betty Leathers, could tell the exact relationship. 

Cousin Betty, dressed in an old-fashioned, faded 
brown silk, represented the ladies of the family of 
the bridegroom. She had stiff brown hair, some- 
what gray, large, watery blue eyes, and a large 
nose. She held in one hand a box filled with 
Scotch snuff, and in the other a tin horn. 

The fat bride glittered in jewels. Her head 
rested upon her shoulders, without the apparent 
intervention of a neck, but under her chin was 
a gold chain, three strands of which distinctly 
enough marked the place where the neck is in 
other persons. Her fingers were adorned with 
rings, three of four of which were set with dia- 
monds. The lady of course had invited her 
friends, and her three sisters older than herself, 


84 


BELLE SCOTT. 


Miss Euphemia Strong, Miss Clara Strong, and 
Miss Mary Strong were present. 

Our friend Bennett had cast off forever the 
rusty suit, which he had worn so long that it 
seemed to be part of his identity. He was 
dressed as a member of so ancient a family should 
he on his wedding day, and on one of his fingers 
was a ring set with a large diamond. 

The friends of the parties, had before been 
nearly strangers to each other ; and when Miss 
Betty Leathers was introduced to Mr. Conway, a 
gentleman who had been partner of Mr. Tullis, 
the former husband of the bride, and who was 
engaged in the profitable business of slave-trader, 
the lady stood quite erect, much more so than 
any person present had seen her stand for ten 
years before, and slowly and coldly extended her 
hand to the gentleman. Mr. Conway, on his part, 
although he could not but observe the coldness 
of her manner, seemed to care but little about it. 
He shook his great bunch of watch seals, and 
adjusted a diamond pin. The Leathers’, with the 
exception of Bennett, had no diamonds. 

The coolness of cousin Kitty, to the guests in- 
vited by the bride, seemed to be contagious. All 
the friends and relations of the bridegroom, by 
some apparent accident, had collected in groups 
in one end of the room, while those of the bride, 


THE WEDDING. 85 

including her sisters, were some seated, others 
standing at the opposite end. 

Miss Euphemia Strong, was entertained by Mr. 
Harrison, a gentleman who had a plantation in 
the interior of the state : for some cause, connected 
probably, with his own interest, he was often in 
the society of Mr. Conway and his partner. He 
had been engaged in buying slaves, to stock, as 
he said, his plantation in Arkansas ; but although 
he had been stocking it for ten years, he was still 
buying more, it was so large ! 

Miss Euphemia asked the gentleman, if he had 
read a new novel of Cooper’s. 

“ La ! no, miss, I never reads novels ; I got no 
time to read anything else but newspapers, and I 
read precious little of them. I read one novel 
once half through, when I was a boy, and that made 
my ha’r stand up on end, so that I have never 
touched another one, since that time.” 

“ Oh dear me ! how dreadful a-one it must have 
been, Mr. Harrison, what was it ?” 

a It was the 4 Mysterious Rhodolpho,’ or some 
such name, full of ghosts and horrors. I do 
think that such books ought not be printed.” 

“ Our literature, Mr. Conway, has been some- 
what improved of late years. We have now, in 
America, writers who can successfuly compete 
with those of whom Europe is proud.” 


86 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ I don’t know anything about that, Miss, and to 
tell you the honest truth, I don’t care a button 
about it ; I see no use in ’em all — what good do 
they do? They don’t help a man to make 
money.” 

“ But, sir, they cultivate the taste, and some of 
them have a happy effect upon the morals of the 
young.” 

“ I never see any use in reading much, any- 
how — them that don’t read at all, get along just 
as well as them as does. I know several gentle- 
men, who can’t read a word, and they make just 
as good livings, have as large plantations, and as 
many negroes and other stock, as if they could 
read. They raise just as good wheat and corn, 
and as much tobacco and cotton, as men does 
that reads more or less, every day of their 
lives.” 

“ On this you are quite radical in your views 
on education. If they were carried out into 
practice, it seems to me, that the world would 
retrograde.” 

“ I don’t know what you mean by retrograde ; 
it seems to me if its like going back a little. 
Well, I am in favor of that — going back, Miss, to 
the good old times of our forefathers — people had 
not so much trouble then as we have now. Then 
men bought and sold what they pleased, and how 


THE WEDDING. 


87 


they pleased, and it was nobody’s business but 
their own ; now everybody is peeping and prying 
into everybody’s matters, and everything that we 
do, is put in the newspapers. How do I know 
but the very same words that I am telling to you 
now, and you to me, will be in print before I die ! 
Now, if so many people could not read, all this 
fuss would be put an end to.” 

“ Good evening, cousin Betty. I have not seen 
you for a year,” said Mr. Walters as he took a 
seat beside her. 

“ Yes, it is a new thing in our family,” screamed 
cousin Betty, “for a Leathers to marry a negro 
trader’s widow. But things are changed now — - 
fashions change, and men change with them, you 
know. Mr. St. John tells me that it’s all right, 
and the best people in the country approve of it. 
Who would have thought that a great-great-grand- 
son of the secretary of Governor Berkley — a 
Leathers — would marry a negro trader’s widow ! 
I thought Bennett, cousin Bennett ought to have 
married in his own family, among his own people, 
as the patriarchs did ; his father and grandfather 
and great-grandfather, each married a first cousin. 
It ’s always been the rule among us, you know, 
cousin Thomas ; but fashions change so, we can’t 
keep the run of them.” 

“Yes,” said Mr. Walters, “fashions have 


88 


BELLE SCOTT. 


changed somewhat since you and I came into 
society/’ 

“ I believe so. Yes, they say her father was a 
member of Congress, and afterward a clerk in one 
of the departments at Washington city. But I 
have inquired into the matter a little further, since 
I heard of their engagement. He was a congress- 
man and a clerk, but before that he was only a 
schoolmaster. 

“ In my younger days it was not thought right 
for a gentleman of family, as ours is, to marry out 
of the circle of his own early associates. But now, 
if anybody has money — why anybody can marry 
a gentleman. I don’t know but that it’s all well 
enough — some people need position, and others 
need money, and when they unite, each gets what 
he and she wants, and both of them are suited.” 

While Miss Betty and Mr. Conway were still at- 
tempting to converse, Mr. Conway’s little daughter 
came, and leaning her head on his shoulder, said : 

“ Papa, I want you to do something for me.” 

“ What is it, my child ? ” 

“Oh but I want you to promise to do it, and 
then I ’ll tell you.” 

“ Let me hear it first. I will do what I can to 
make you happy,” he said, as he patted her cheek. 

“ Papa, I want you to get teeth for me, just like 
the bride’s. I was in her room to-day, and she 


THE WEDDING. 


89 


took all her teeth out, and put them in a tumbler 
of water and let them stay there a good while, and 
then rubbed them with a brush and a towel, and 
fixed ’em in her mouth again. Oh it was so nice.” 

“ Mr. Conway smiled, and stroked her hair, and 
told her it would make her mouth bleed to put 
them in,” 

“ What is it the child wants, screamed cousin 
Betty. I heard you say something about bleed 
or blood, Mr. Conway. They called it blood-money 
when I first came into society ; and some people 
who sold their servants, never would buy food or 
furniture, or build houses with the money ; they 
thought ill luck would follow it. Yes, they always 
called it blood-money, when I was a girl — a little- 
girl, I mean, Mr. Conway. But Mr. St. John tells 
me that these opinions are now discarded as idle 
superstitions, and people prize such money as 
greatly as any other. What is it the child wants ?” 

(( Oh, said Mr, Conway, she has a childish fancy 
about dentistry, that will be forgotten to-morrow.” 

« Yes, people forget very soon nowadays. It 
was not so when I was a little girl. Then we 
could remember the grandfathers of almost every 
person in the whole country. There ’s the Fol- 
lingsbys ; I remember old Follingsby ; he was an 
Englishman. He was a stocking-weaver, sir ; and 
now the Follingsbys are among the first families 


90 


BELLE SCOTT. 


in the land. They own the whole estate at Rye- 
croft, and live in the mansion built by Mrs. 
Ryecroft, while her husband was away at Con- 
gress. She run him in debt ten thousand dollars 
for it, and broke him up. And there’s the 
Pierces. I knew old Pierce. He was my father’s 
distiller. His sons were merchants ; and now his 
grandchildren are married with the best blood of 
the whole country, and have all forgotten that I 
know their ancestor was a distiller ; and they live 
at the Oaklands. And the whole family of 
Barnetts, who once owned that fine estate, have 
moved off to Missouri. And then there ’s the 
Mowbrys. I knew their grandfather very well. 
He was my father’s overseer. Many ’s the time 
he has carried me to school, when I was a little 
girl, and now his descendants are great planters, 
in Louisiana, and have a great many servants. 

“ Yes, the child is right, Mr. Conway, people do 
forget very soon nowadays. Times have changed, 
and some people have changed a good deal with 
them. I don’t think cousin Bennett has changed 
much. But it does look queer, Mr. Conway, indeed 
it does, to see a Leathers, sir — a Leathers — marry 
a negro trader’s widow ! But Mr. St. John says 
that it is all light, and I suppose it must be so.” 

Miss Strong said in a low voice to Mr. Sat- 
terby, a negro-trader, seated by her : “ My sister 


THE WEDDING. 


91 


has been a widow eighteen months, and has dis- 
couraged the advances of half a dozen gentlemen, 
during her widowhood. She has now accepted 
Mr. Leathers, and it really seems as if some of his 
friends think the alliance quite a condescension on 
his part. I assure you, that Mr. Leathers was 
importunate in his courtship, so much so, that he 
sometimes called on my sister three or four times 
in one day. He was deeply in love, and you 
know, my dear sir, that Cupid’s flames spread 
rapidly in the poor, weak, female heart. You 
gentlemen, have nothing to do but become deeply 
in love yourselves, and then in spite of all our 
efforts, you are irresistible. A life of single 
blessedness, I know, is a happy one, but in some 
way you manage to convince us, that a life of 
double blessedness is twice as happy.” 

Mr. Satterby said, “ That no gentleman, could 
doubt that, in her presence.” 

u Oh, you wicked man ! how you flatter,” said 
she, tapping him gently with her fan. “ If you 
will visit Washington city, I will take great pleas- 
ure in showing you, whoever and whatever is 
worth your attention in it. There are delightful 
walks around the Capitol, and it is so pleasant to 
wander in them with a friend, — one who can ap- 
preciate you, and whose sentiments are but the 
echoes of your own.” 


92 


BELLE SCOTT. 


Mr. Satterby replied, “ That it must be roman- 
tic indeed. If he could possibly spare the time 
from his business, he would avail himself of her 
invitation, and did not doubt that, in her society, 
his enjoyment would be greater than ever he had 
experienced before.” 

Miss Strong gave him a sweet look, tapped him 
again with her fan, and left the room. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


THE WHIPPING-POST. 

About twilight on the evening of the day of the 
wedding of Bennett Leathers, another and more 
motley crowd was gathered before the door of the 
court-house, in the same city. A large square, 
open at all sides except the south, on that side 
near its eastern end, was a row of brick-houses. 
The lower rooms were occupied some as retail, 
others as wholesale liquor stores. The upper’ 
apartments seemed to be sailors’ boarding-houses. 
In front of this row, shaded by a grove of locust 
and poplar trees, stood the red whipping-post, tall 
and massive, with the stocks in a kind of second 
story. It stood at right angles with the buildings, 
so that one end of it fronted the court-house door, 
and the other the liquor shops. The dense crowd 
pressed in mass toward the whipping-post. In the 
midst of it was a man dressed in a velvet round- 
about, with a red kerchief round his neck ; in one 
hand he held a blue cowskin ; with the other he 
grasped a tall, spare mulatto woman. 

On each side of the pillar of the whipping-post, 
8 ( 98 > 


94 


BELLE SCOTT. 


which was next to the court-house, were iron clasps 
large enough to inclose the wrists of a person, with 
fastenings to keep them in their place. The feet 
were secured by placing them in holes in the 
platform, large enough to admit the ankles of the 
sufferer, and then the boards were, by wedges, 
driven back to their place. In this machine Minte, 
the mulatto woman, was placed. The man then 
unbuttoned her dress,- and exposed about as much 
of her back between the shoulder-blades, as could 
be covered with his hands. While he was doing 
this, a crowd of boys had climbed upon the 
upper apartment of the whipping-post, and others 
had seated themselves on the branches of the 
surrounding trees. When all was ready, the man 
said, in a loud voice : “ Stand back, men, and keep 
silence, while the law takes its course,” The hum 
of voices ceased, and all were silent in an instant. 
He then said to the crowd : 

“This here nigger wench, has murdered her 
master’s child, and she won’t confess and tell where 
she has hid the body. The bird that ken sing 
and won’t sing, must be made to sing, and I ’m the 
man to make her do it. 

“Now,” said he, addressing the woman, “I 
don’t want to whip you — indeed it hurts my feel- 
ings always whenever I have to whip anybody, 
white or black ; but I am a sworn officer and must 


THE WHIPPING-POST. 


95 


do my duty to my country. Come now, own it 
up, and I ’ll take you right back to jail without 
hitting you even once.” 

“Indeed, master Blue, afore God, I never 
harmed that child in all the days of my life. If I 
was a-going to the judgment this very minute, I 
would tell you what I have always told you, and 
everybody else — that I am just as innocent of 
harm to that child as an angel in heaven. Oh, 
remember that I am human nature as well as 
you ; don’t whip me — for God’s sake, don’t whip 
me. I never was whipped in my life.” 

Stand back, men, shouted Mr. Blue, and then 
stepping back he brought down his cowhide 
with skill between the shoulders of Minte. A 
loud, piercing shriek — a quivering of every muscle 
in her frame — a look of intense agony upon her 
countenance, followed the blow. There was a 
pause for an instant, and then four other blows, 
each harder than the preceding, quickly followed. 
Minte ’s head dropped upon her shoulder — she was 
silent as if dead. Blue paused. “Now,” said he, 
“ you ’ve had five ; you ’ve got to take nine-and- 
thirty to-day, and as much more another time — 
and this is only the beginning.” Minte in a low 
voice said : 

“ Mr, Blue, Oh God ! Mr. Blue, I no more did 


96 


BELLE SCOTT. 


it than your mother did. I am not a liar. Oh ! 
for God’s sake let me go or kill me right out — 
don’t torture me to death.” 

Blue stepped back again, and five other blows 
rapidly fell upon the quivering form of his now 
silent victim; blood followed each blow, and the torn 
flesh hung in shreds upon her back. He paused, 
and opened her dress, so as to expose still more 
of her person. “ Now,” said he, “ I have given it 
to you in doses of five at a time. I ’ll give you 
one dose of nine, and another of ten ; but it does 
hurt my feelings, you may depend on it ; and I’ll 
stop the very moment you confess.” 

“ Oh, Mr. Blue ! what can I say ? Oh God ! 
Oh Christ! what can I do? I no more killed 
that child, than I killed yours ; I loved it most as 
well as my own. Oh, men, have mercy on me ! 
Oh, God, have mercy on me !” 

“Have mercy on yourself, and own up; you 
might as well do it first, as last. I tell you that 
you will have to be whipped on three several 
days, till you confess. The committee has ordered 
it, and it must be done, and can’t be helped ; you’ve 
only had ten, and on sound flesh too — think of 
nine-and-thirty to-day, and nine-and-thirty more 
on the top of that when it gets just about half 
well ; when it will be tender as your eye ; so tender, 


THE WHIPPING-POST. 


97 


that you will scream, when the doctor only touches 
it with his little finger. Come, don’t be a fool, 
own the thing at once, and save your feelings.” 

Minte returned no answer ; her head hung down 
heavily upon her shoulder. The look of agony 
had left her countenance; her muscles were all 
still. Blue threw some water in her face; she 
started, and then he again stepped back, and 
applied the cowskin with fury. A boy seated 
overhead called out, “She confesses ! she confesses ! 
stop, Mr. Blue.” Mr. Blue stopped. “Do you 
confess now that you killed the child ?” A low 
“Yes,” followed his question, and Minte was 
released and carried by two men back to jail. 

“ She ought to be hung at once,” said a by- 
stander. “If a negro nurse should kill my child, 
as she did that of her mistress, I would never 
put the court to the trouble of trying her.” 

“ Yes,” replied the person addressed ; “ we are 
too lenient entirely, too much so, sir. No man’s 
family is safe now-days. Only last week, another 
case of the same kind occurred in Mississippi ; and 
they will constantly occur till more stringent laws 
shall be adopted, to put a stop to such wicked- 
ness.” 

“ I want no more law,” said the first speaker : 
“ let every man avenge his own wrongs, and these 
things will soon be stopped.” 


CHAPTER XIV. 


minte’s trial. 

At nine o’clock on Monday morning, three 
weeks afterward, the same court-house yard was 
filled with people. Politicians canvassing for votes 
at the approaching election; peddlers exposing 
their goods and trinkets for sale ; old women stood 
behind stalls covered with apples, cakes and can- 
dies ; men were passing through the crowd, with 
maps and books for exhibition and sale. It was 
Quarterly Court. The first case to be tried by 
the magistrates, was that of the negro woman 
Minte, charged with murdering a child she had to 
nurse. 

To this charge Minte plead not guilty ; upon 
being asked by the court, she stated that she had 
no counsel, and had no means to pay counsel for 
her defense. The long and elevated seat usually 
occupied by the Judge of the circuit court, was 
filled with magistrates. Four only seemed to be 
actively engaged in the trial. The others occa- 
sionally stood up ; or one at a time left the bench, 
and after a brief visit to the tavern, returned. Most 
( 98 ) 


minte’s trial. 


99 


of them were gray-haired country gentlemen. Two 
of them were lawyers who had retired early from 
the profession, and were now living on their estates 
as planters. The magistrates consulted for a few 
minutes and called up John Hansard, Esq., a 
young gentleman who had recently been admitted 
to practice, and asked if he was willing to under- 
take her defense ? The gentleman assented, and 
they then asked Minte, whether she was willing 
to be defended by him? A sullen look and a 
gruff “ Yes” from Minte, was the reply ; and the 
trial began. 

Mr. Hansard claimed for his client a jury ; not, 
he said, that he doubted at all either the fairness 
or the capacity of the honorable court : to do so 
would be evidence only of folly and presumption ; 
but he thought, and even insisted, that no trial 
could be had by law, where the charge involved the 
life of the accused, without the intervention of a jury. 

The district attorney was never more surprised 
in his life, than by the assertion of such a claim. 
In all his long practice in that court, this was the 
first time that it had ever been made where a 
negro or mulatto stood for trial. If the accused 
have a jury at all, it must be a jury of her peers . 
The only peers of the accused were persons of her 
own color ; all others were in fact, and by law, her 
superiors. 


100 


BELLE SCOTT. 


The court overruled the motion for a jury. 
Witnesses were called, and it appeared from their 
statements, that the prisoner at the bar had a child 
of her own, and was employed by Mr. Scott to 
nurse his child. That Mr. Scott lived in the 
country, and had come down to the city to remain 
but a few weeks, principally for the purpose of 
obtaining the advice of experienced physicians for 
his wife, who was in bad health. She was, how- 
ever, able to visit her friends. That about the 
middle of the afternoon, of the day on which it 
was charged that the murder had been committed, 
Mrs. Scott, in a moment of irritation at some petty 
misconduct of Minte’s child, had called it a brat, 
and shaken it by the shoulder as Minte was en- 
tering the room ; that Minte flew into a paroxysm 
of rage, and abused Mrs. Scott to her face, and 
when ordered out of the room, muttered something 
which Mrs. Scott could not distinctly hear, but 
which she thought was a threat of evil toward 
herself or some member of her family. She saw 
but little of Minte during the day, and when she 
did so, she was silent and sullen. She was invited 
to take tea with a friend on that evening, and went 
early with her husband, leaving the child in the 
care of Minte. She returned about eleven that 
night, and retired, supposing that, as usual, Minte 
had the child in her care ; and knew no better 


MINTES TRIAL. 


101 


till she came down to breakfast about eight o’clock 
the next day, when she learned from Minte that 
the child was missing. Diligent search was im- 
mediately made for it in all parts of the city — 
the river, ponds and wells were examined, adver- 
tisements were inserted in the newspapers, offering 
large rewards for the discovery of the child, but 
all without success. All hope of finding her body 
was now over, and all effort to do so abandoned. 

The district attorney now called up Mr. Blue, 
but his evidence was objected to, on the ground 
that the confessions had been obtained by torture 
from the prisoner. Blue stated with accuracy 
what he had done, and by whose orders he had 
done it. One of the magistrates, Colonel Thorn- 
ton, declared, that for his part he was not only 
opposed to hearing evidence obtained by such 
means ; but if his colleagues concurred, would go 
further, and take proper means to secure the 
punishment of Blue and his aiders and abettors 
for the outrages they had inflicted upon the 
prisoner. He was pained to hear that the practice 
of torturing colored persons accused of crimes, was 
not of unfrequent occurrence. There was no law 
that authorized it ; it was directly in violation of 
law as well as of common sense and humanity. 
Confessions of guilt, made under circumstances 
when the party making them could not deliberate, 
9 


102 


BELLE SCOTT. 


were of no value. They proved only the pain of 
the accused, not their guilt. 

The other magistrates decided that Blue should 
be sworn as a witness, and tell all that he knew ; 
they would hear his statements ; of course they 
would not be taken into consideration, when they 
deliberated upon the guilt or innocence of the 
accused. They would sift it after they heard it all. 

Blue then said : “ If it please your honors, this 
here wench was brought to jail, the next day after 
she murdered the child, early in the forenoon. I 
axed her about it, and she said she had nothing 
to do with killing of the child, and did not know 
who did kill it. She pretended she liked the 
child mighty well, and always used it just as well 
as she used her own. She said she was a free 
woman, and could have left her place with Mr. 
Scott, who was stopping at the Washington Hotel, 
just as easy as not if she had chose to do so. I 
axed her almost every day for two weeks, and she 
got so sullen at last, that she wouldn’t talk to me 
any more about it. The Vigilance Committee” 
(here Col. Wilbur stopped him and told him to 
say nothing more about that committee. It was 
an association not warranted by law ; formed, as he 
believed, for illegal purposes). Blue apologized, 
the other magistrates however told him to tell the 
whole story, and Blue proceeded. “ Well, I took 


minte’s trial. 


108 


her to the whipping-post, and after I had drawn a 
few drops of her claret, she did confess that she 
murdered the child. All that night afterward 
she never spoke one word, and the next day she 
would not eat or drink, and laid on the floor of 
the cell curled up in one corner, making once in a 
while a great fuss and groaning. When she began 
to talk again, which she did in two days after- 
ward, she denied worse than ever that she had 
killed the child, and still kept on doing so from 
that day to this.” 

A few persons appeared as witnesses for the pri- 
soner. They knew nothing of the circumstances 
attending the child’s death, but had known Minte 
two or three years, and she always was an honest, 
industrious woman — hasty in her temper, and when 
angry, turbulent in her language, but it was soon 
over and then she was as kind and obedient as ever. 

The case was argued at great length by the 
respective lawyers. The arguments were listened 
to with attention, and then the magistrates drew 
their chairs together and consulted about half an 
hour : seven were now on the bench. Two thought 
the evidence insufficient. The other five, believed 
the prisoner guilty. Minte heard this opinion 
without any change of countenance. She was 
then asked what she had to say, why sentence of 
death should not be pronounced against her. 


104 


BELLE SCOTT. 


At first she made no reply, but when the ques- 
tion was again asked, and the matter explained to 
her, she rose and said : “ Gentlemen, I didn’t kill 
that child at all. I’m just as innocent of it, as 
anybody can be. After I gave the two children 
their suppers, I took them up-stairs and laid them 
on my bed without undressing them, and I sat by 
them till they both got to sleep. Then I went 
out, and was not gone more than five minutes, 
and when I came back this child was gone. I 
was scared at first* and did not know what to 
think about it, but I thought that as Mrs. Scott 
was going out that evening, and I had my own 
child to take care of, that she had sent for her 
child as she often had done, and got another 
servant to take it with her. I went to sleep 
soon afterward and never knew, till next day, 
that the child was gone clean away. Then they 
took me up and put me in jail, and that’s all I 
know ’bout it. You can hang me if you please, 
’taint no worse than has been done to me ; but 
God knows I am an innocent woman.” 

“Didn’t you confess,” said a magistrate from 
the country seated at the end of the bench: 
“ didn’t you confess to Mr. Blue, that you killed 
the child ? ” 

“ No ! I did not do any such thing.” 

“Why, Mr. Blue swears you did, and I have 


minte’s trial. 


105 


heard (outside of the court-house to be sure), that 
at least half a dozen persons heard you confess it.” 

“If I did so, I don’t ’member it; I ’member 
very well, that I denied it over and over again ; 
I was in so much pain, that I can’t rightly say 
just what I might have said at the time. I am 
innocent, and God knows it.” 

She seated herself and then an old man, a 
magistrate, stood up and pronounced sentence of 
death upon her, and told her when she was to be 
hung. Before he sat down he told her, that as 
the court were divided in opinion, they would all 
recommend her to the mercy of the governor, and 
he had hardly a doubt but that the governor 
would commute her punishment, to sale as a slave 
for life to some person who would take her out of 
the commonwealth. 


CHAPTER XV. 


aaron’s narrative. 

“My heart seemed breaking. My brain was 
on fire. My whole body seemed stiff as if it had 
been frozen into stone. I could not see or hear. 
One thought only filled my mind and tore my 
heart — my child: she would die — die of grief, alone 
and uncared for — or if she lived, her life would be 
one long lingering agony worse than death. Her 
deformity, her worthlessness to her master, made 
me sure that he would not care for her welfare. 
I thought, too, of her great love for me — every 
little act of kindness in her whole life came up at 
once before my mind — I saw her sometimes sitting 
under a tree as far in my path as she dared to 
come to meet me in the evening, and springing 
into my arms, and laughing and crying by turns 
as she did so. I heard her tell me over again 
how lonely she had been all day without me, and 
how long the day seemed between the sunrise and 
the sunset — and I thought over again the happy 
Sundays that we had passed together in our dark 
cabin, where we talked and sung and read the 
( 106 ) 


aaron’s narrative. 


107 


Bible all day long. Who now would care for her 
when she was sick ? Who would bear with her 
fretfulness when she was tortured with pain, as 
she had often been ? She would be placed in the 
care of some woman with children of her own, and 
her feebleness and affliction would make her a prey 
to all who chose to abuse her. 

“ I was sold — sold as a beast, and chained with 
other men ; and they were taking me to a market 
where they could sell me again for more money. 
I had been sold before. I had been whipped and 
abused and half starved, and slandered and denied 
almost every right that men love ; but none of 
these things seemed hard, compared with the 
greatest of all sorrows, that of being separated, 
as I thought forever, from the only being on earth 
who loved me. If I could have followed her to 
the grave, I would have been less sad ; for I would 
then know that good angels had her in their care, 
and that she was happy forever. But now, what 
ruin might not be done to her very soul. All the 
lessons I had taught her would soon be forgotten 
amid the bad teaching and example of the other 
slaves. She would forget her Bible and her God ; 
she would forget even me, and live as those live 
with whom she would be compelled to associate. 

I looked for a moment along the line of the 
coffle, as it stretched out like a great serpent 


108 


BELLE SCOTT. 


before me, winding with the turnings of the road, 
and moving, now up, now down, as it passed over 
the uneven ground, and wondered if, in that whole 
gang of slaves, there was any one who, like me, 
was separated forever from an only child! I 
thought I saw in the sorrowful faces of many of 
my fellows, marks of sadness and suffering, deep 
almost as the grief of my own heart. I groaned 
aloud, and other groans re-echoed my own. I 
sighed, and far along the line, sighs seemed to 
answer mine. 

“ I was fastened to the leading chain by a single 
manacle on my right hand. We had gone but a 
few miles when night came on, I now, for the first 
time, could shed tears. I raised my chained hand 
to my face ; the tears ran fast over it : another thrill 
of agony came across me, and as I dropped my hand 
to my side, I gave a sudden jerk, and the ball of 
my thumb, wet as it was, slipped through the ring 
of the chain. I cannot tell my feelings. I had now 
the power to free myself again. I carefully held the 
ring, and the darkness concealed its position. Very 
soon the two men who w r ere riding behind us, passed 
one on each side, up to the middle of the coffle, 
and at the brow of a hill I carefully threw the 
manacle over the leading chain, and with one leap 
I was at the road-side, another brought me into 
a thicket. I ran as fast as I could till I had got 


aaron’s narrative. 109 

out of sight, then suddenly turned and went back 
to the road. I did so to get clear of the dogs 
that the drivers kept in a wagon, to hunt such 
of the coffle as might escape. I soon heard them 
baying in the woods, but after awhile they seemed 
unable to find my track, I ran on, looking be- 
hind me almost every minute. I then laid my 
ear down on the ground, and heard horses coming 
on. I found by the roadside, two logs lying close 
together, and laid down between them. Presently 
two men on horseback rode past me. One of 
them said : 

“ 6 It ’s Jim’s fault — he’s as tender-hearted as a 
chicken. He did not screw the manacle tight 
enough. I always do so at first, and then loosen 
it afterward, when the hand begins to swell. Once 
I made a mistake, and the man’s hand swelled till 
it withered ; but that’s better, you know, than 
to let a nigger get away. But the running off of 
this fellow won’t make much difference, for we ’ll 
catch him before daylight, and then, you know, 
Sam’s rule. lie always takes the runaway to the 
head of the gang, and there in sight of all the rest, 
gives him a cool hundred on his bare back, and 
that strikes a terror into the others, and makes 
them afraid to run. Discipline among niggers is a 
great thing, Mr. Fitsimmons ; it keeps all quiet and 
in order, and without it it’s no use to try to live.’ 


110 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ Mr. Eitsiminons said he knew it was so, and 
very soon they passed out of my hearing. 

“ I got up as soon as they were out of sight, and 
went after them. When I got near my old master’s 
house, there was a turn in the road, and something 
told me there was danger there. I got over into 
the field, and went around among some bushes. 
I saw one white horse, and could hear the other 
stamping his feet on the ground. I then ran to 
my quarters ; the door was not barred ; I opened 
it carefully, and found Lucy lying undressed across 
her bed. I went to the floor, and raised up a 
plank, under which I had put my jack-knife, some 
lucifer matches, and my Bible. I got these, took 
Lucy in my arms, and ran to the woods, I ran 
till I came to a stream of water, and waded down 
it a mile; then I went on my journey. As soon 
as I felt myself far enough out in the woods to 
be safe, we laughed, we cried, we leaped, we shouted 
for joy ! I had not a cent of money in the world; 
no hat nor shoes, nor house nor home — nothing, 
nothing but my child and my Bible, and with 
these I was so happy that I could hardly live. 
Lucy, too, pressed her little cheek to mine, and 
tears of joy fell fast from her eyes.” 


CHAPTER XVI. 


aaron’s narrative. 

“I walked as fast as I could until daylight, and 
then found a shelter and hiding-place, near a 
stream of water. Here we staid all day without 
anything to eat. At night we again started, but 
I was so weak from hunger and distress of mind, 
that I could not travel fast. All that night we 
walked slowly, Lucy complaining that she was 
very hungry: when daylight came, I do not 
believe that we had gone five miles. We were 
both suffering so much from hunger, that I 
thought it best to go on in hope of finding some- 
thing to eat. We were in a large wood with a 
great deal of underbrush, and no paths appeared 
to have been made in it. About an hour after 
sunrise, while I was looking around, I saw some- 
thing lying by the side of an old tree that had 
fallen down. I told Lucy to sit down and be 
perfectly still. She did so, and I went round the 
tree very quietly until I got opposite the place 
where the object lay, then looked carefully over 
and saw a young fawn asleep. With a spring I 

CHI) 


112 BELLE SCOTT. 

made it my prisoner. Its cries brought Lucy to 
me. It was a beautiful creature, and she was 
delighted with it : when I told her that I intended 
to kill it for food she begged me even with tears 
to spare its life ; when I was about to plunge my 
knife into its throat, she caught my hand and 
cried out in agony. I carried it in my arms 
until we came to a place well sheltered and near a 
stream, and then sent Lucy down for some water. 
Before she got back the fawn was killed. She 
stood looking at its dying struggles, and crying 
over it until its life was gone. I then dressed it, 
made a fire and roasted as much of it as we needed. 
As Lucy was without shoes, after a hearty break- 
fast I passed the day in making her, from the 
skin of the fawn, a pair of moccasins that came 
above her ankles. At noon and at night we again 
feasted on the venison, and then started on our 
journey, carrying the remainder of it with us. 

“I felt very dull, my head ached, my limbs 
were full of pain, and now that the excitement 
under which I had been, had passed off, I could 
scarcely walk. Lucy walked by my side. We 
were following the course of a stream of water, and 
about midnight I became unable to travel further. 
We found a place where three or four trees were 
overgrown by a large grape vine that twined all 
around them down to the ground. I made a bed 


aaron’s narrative. 


113 


of leaves under this shelter as well as I could. 
Here I laid down. I told Lucy how to make a 
fire and prepare her food. My mind soon wan- 
dered ; sometimes I imagined myself dying and 
leaving my child alone in the midst of this great 
wood, perhaps several miles from any human 
being; and if she returned to where she would 
meet with human help, the very helpers would 
themselves as their first act, reduce her to slavery 
for the residue of her life. Then I was startled by 
visions of wild beasts tearing her, and again by 
seeing her wasted to a skeleton and dying of 
starvation. In the midst of these distressing 
thoughts I lost my consciousness. I do not 
know how long I was in that state. The first 
thing I remember was, that I awoke as from a 
deep sleep, and found Lucy bending over me and 
pouring water on my forehead from a large mussel 
shell. She was wasted to a skeleton. She told 
me that she had eaten up all the remains of the 
fawn, and had been a long time without food, and 
was almost starved to death. I tried to rise but 
was unable to do so. Poor little Lucy sat by my 
side ; her face was thin and thoughtful ; but even 
in the agony that was upon it, I could see fullness 
of joy at my returning consciousness. She said 
she was so glad I could talk to her, that she had 
been talking to me day and night, but that some- 


114 


BELLE SCOTT. 


times I said nothing in reply, and at other times 
she could not understand me ; that she had sat at 
my side all day during the days, and lain by me 
all night ; that rabbits and birds came near us 
and looked at us, and then went away; that 
except the singing of the birds, she had heard no 
other sounds than her own voice and the groans 
of her father for many days. 

“ My senses were completely restored. I was 
sure that the disease had left me; but still I 
feared that before I became strong enough to 
walk, my child would starve to death. It was 
about daybreak when I came to myself, and while 
I was wondering what to do for food for Lucy, I 
heard a large frog croaking in the stream below 
me. I told her to take a stick and creep care- 
fully behind it, and hit it on its back : she did so 
and soon brought it to me. I never before felt so 
thankful for food. It was soon prepared by the 
aid of a fire, and Lucy ate it with eagerness. I 
could eat but little of it. Before night I became 
able to walk a little by the help of a stick and 
the hand of Lucy. I had not walked a mile 
before I came across a horse that had died but a 
short time before. At first I did not see what 
benefit it could be to us, as its flesh was unfit 
for food ; but on thinking a moment I saw that I 
had stumbled on a prize. With my knife I cut 


aaron’s narrative. 


115 


off the long hair from its main and tail, and then 
we found a hiding-place. With this we made a 
great many lines; and from some bones, by the aid 
of my knife, I made fish-hooks. They were very 
rough ones, but answered the purpose for which 
they were made. We found a pole and some 
craw-fish for bait, and very soon Lucy, seated 
under a large sycamore tree, began fishing in the 
stream. I sat by her and shortly, with my help, 
she caught a small fish, and then another and 
another, ’till we had plenty of food. We staid 
here several days until I became strong enough 
to walk with ease, and Lucy had recovered from 
the effects of famine. We then one evening 
started on our journey. 

“ Two nights after that, we came to a country 
with oak and other trees growing on it, in clumps 
of some half dozen together, and then with wide 
open spaces — some large and some small. The 
ground was all grown over with long grass and 
flowers. It appeared as if the foot of man had 
never passed over it. I got on the highest rise 
of ground, and looked carefully all around me, but 
saw no sign of human habitation. I laid my ear 
to the ground, and could not hear the barking of 
any dogs. We went into what I supposed to be 
the middle of this country, and I there found on 
a little knoll, the ruins of an old house that had 


116 


BELLE SCOTT. 


been burnt ; near it was a spring, now filled with 
mud and leaves. In the remains of a garden, in 
front of the house, was a large thicket of young 
fig-trees, the old ones appeared to have been de- 
stroyed, and these had come up thickly in their 
place. There was, too, in the rear of what had 
been the house, a large grove of oaks, and some 
peach, apple, and cherry trees. There was a cellar 
filled up with pieces of burnt timber and stones. 
I cleared out a corner of this place, and arranged 
the boards in such a manner as to shelter us from 
the sun ; and we determined, if we could safely 
do so, to make it our home for several days, until 
our health and strength should be fully restored. 
Very soon after we had prepared our hiding-place, 
Lucy came to me with her face beaming with joy : 
she said she had found something, and asked me 
to guess what it was ! I made many efforts to do 
so, but failed in them all — when she told me it 
was a bucket. This was indeed a prize. Down 
in the stream below the spring, deeply buried in 
the mud, was a wooden bucket ; it was soon raised 
and cleaned, and the handle, which was loose, put 
in its place. This led us to look for other articles 
of value, and we found an old tin-cup, a case-knife, 
a fork with the handle off, and the prongs of an 
old pitchfork. What treasures, and how useful 
these things were to us ! 


aaron’s narrative. 


117 


“ Large herds of cattle were grazing over this 
natural meadow. Most of them were too wild to 
let us approach them ; but one cow had her udder 
full of milk, and she was quiet and tame. Oh! 
how Lucy feasted on the first bucket of milk that 
I got from the cow, and how rich we were, now 
that we had plenty of food, and the means of get- 
ting more. I made snares for rabbits, and caught 
a great many; cut down a small bush, and made 
a bow, and with my horse-hair lines, a string for 
it. I made arrows from the broken boards around 
me, and soon was able to supply ourselves with 
woodcock, partridges, and snipe. We did not 
merely feast, we fattened. 

“ I do not know how long we staid here ; I sup- 
pose it was more than a week. Do not think that 
I wasted my time. I could not have traveled in 
my weak state. I was not strong enough to carry 
Lucy, and she was not able to walk much ; so that 
I still think I acted for the best, in staying there 
until I became strong enough to travel. 

cc Generally, in the daytime, we stayed in our 
place in the old cellar, except that early in the 
morning I went out to kill birds and rabbits, and 
to milk the cow. The cow seemed also, to look 
upon our place as her home, and upon us as her 
friends ; for regularly night and morning she came 
up to be milked. Our place, too, was on ground 
10 


118 


BELLE SCOTT. 


that rose so high above the country around us, 
that I could see a great way in every direction, 
if a man, especially on horseback, should approach 
us. Our time during the day was employed in 
preparing our food, and after that in reading the 
Bible. I here had, for the first time, an oppor- 
tunity to read it day after day to my dear child : 
she sat by me and listened, and asked questions 
as I read, and I do hope that she was greatly 
benefited by what she heard. She was less fretful, 
her countenance became calmer, and her conduct 
more quiet. Much as she had always loved me, 
she now seemed to love me with more tenderness 
and force. 'Her eyes often filled with tears as I 
read to her. 

“ Once I read : ‘ If meat make my brother to 
offend, I will eat no meat while the world standeth,’ 
and explained to her that it meant that the eating 
of meat was entirely lawful, but that if by doing 
a lawful act, it caused others who were of weak 
minds, to lose their love for Christianity, that then 
it would be wrong even to eat meat. She looked 
me in the face, and said : 

“ ‘ Father, was it not wrong for master to sell you; 
he sold your flesh, was not that as bad as to eat 
meat ? It offended me, it offended you, and it may 
be that it will offend others. Then how can he 
be a good man and do so ? ’ ” 


CHAPTER XVII. 


aaron’s narrative. 

“ It may seem strange, but it is true, that I 
never before had become thoroughly acquainted 
with my own child. I had nursed her when she 
was a baby, but I had to work so hard, that at 
night I was too tired to talk much with her. Now 
I had, what I had very long wished for, full time 
to sit all day by her side, to talk with her, to read 
my Bible to her, and to enjoy fully her society. 
I never passed so happy a time in my life. The 
days flew by us swiftly ; our various employments 
seemed not to leave us leisure enough for all of 
them. Lucy's love for me grew daily, as mine 
did for her. I had before that, supposed that I 
loved her so strongly, that I could love her no 
more ; but my power of loving seemed to be in- 
creased. She often asked me if we were now free. 
We talked over our plans of living when we should 
get to Canada, a place which, to Lucy, seemed 
next to heaven. I was to go out in the fields and 
work — and she was to keep house, milk the cow 
and feed the chickens. Such plans of happiness 

( 119 ) 


120 


BELLE SCOTT. 


came up before us, that we almost forgot for the 
time, our present distress in looking forward to 
the bright future. 

“ While we staid at the ruins of the old house 
the weather was clear and mild, but a change 
seemed to be coming on, and I thought we had 
better leave it as the cellar might fill with water. 
One evening about sunset, we milked our cow ; 
Lucy patted her on the head, and bade her good- 
by. We took with us our bucket, cup, and pitch- 
fork, to which I had put a handle, and started, not 
without sorrow, from our home : although I was 
nearly recovered, yet I found it would be too 
great a burden to carry Lucy. She had to walk 
nearly all the way. This she did cheerfully, as 
her feet were well protected by her moccasins. 
We got along slowly, but well. The weather was 
cloudy, so that I could not see the North star, 
and from this point I must have made a mistake 
in my starting, which took me too far to the west, 
and ended in my getting here. 

“ We were now traveling through a count*}' 
which was pretty well inhabited, so that I had to 
be very careful, for fear of being seen. One 
evening, just after we had started from our hiding- 
place, we were greatly scared at the sound of 
something rushing toward us through the bushes. 
Our hearts beat wildly ; detection and a life of 


aaron's narrative. ~ 121 

hopeless slavery seemed to be just before us; but 
when it came in sight — Oh ! how glad w r e were to 
see only a wolf — not a man. It looked at us, and 
then ran away. 

“We went on night after night, for I do not 
know how long — often suffering from hunger, 
sometimes, though rarely, from thirst, weary and 
sad, until early one morning we were startled by 
the distant cry of a pack of hounds : on listening, 
I had reason to fear they were on our trail. I 
snatched Lucy in my arms, and fled with terror, 
running even in broad daylight close to the fields. 
At last I came to a path, on which I saw the 
freshly-made tracks of several men ; it led in the 
same direction I was traveling, and I followed it, 
heedless almost of all danger, except from the 
pursuing hounds, until I came to another that 
turned off from it, and seemed to lead out into 
the woods. I pursued that until our traces were 
lost. Soon afterward I came to a swamp, over- 
grown with large trees, and covered with the trunks 
of those which had fallen. In it was a little space 
of dry ground, surrounded on all sides by almost 
stagnant water ; there, under a large tree, I made 
our stopping-place. I discovered that a pair of 
bald eagles had their nest, and young ones, in the 
top of a pine tree ; one of the eagles, by accident, 
let a young rabbit, not yet dead, fall from the 


122 


BELLE SCOTT. 


nest ; we were hungry and I grasped the prizo 
The eagle swept oyer and near us, with ruffled 
feathers, and screamed and flew away to her nest. 
They were free ! they could fly and soar, and rear 
and feed their young, while I was compelled to 
hide from the face of my fellow-men. Several 
alligators lay on the logs by the edge of the water, 
basking themselves in the warm sunshine. We 
caught some fish, and staid here several days. 
I could, almost every morning, hear the hounds 
at a distance. I supposed from this, that other 
runaways were in the neighborhood, and that they 
were in search of them. At last one night, I 
heard a low whistle, which was repeated in a few 
minutes ; then a pause followed, and it was an- 
swered in another direction. This was the first 
sound I had heard from human lips, except Lucy’s 
and my own, for many weeks : but as I did not 
know whence it came, I hid myself, and put out 
my fire. The smoke of it had been seen, for two 
persons were evidently coming cautiously toward 
us, I laid Lucy down on the ground, and myself 
close by her side, and listened ; my limbs trembled, 
and I feared that the beating of Lucy’s little heart 
would itself betray us. After awhile, the two 
persons seemed to be coming nearer to each other, 
and then I heard them speaking in a low tone. 
From their speech, I supposed them to be colored 


aaron’s narrative. 


123 


people, but I was not sure whether it might not 
be white persons speaking like them, to deceive 
me. It was a bright starlight night, and I saw 
one of them get up on a large log, and look care- 
fully around him. He was a very short, heavy-set 
man, without hat or shoes; his clothes all in 
tatters, except a huge skin that covered his 
shoulders. Very soon the other approached him, 
who appeared to be a mulatto boy about seventeen 
"or eighteen years of age. They talked together 
a short time, and the boy then came cautiously 
toward us, and in a low, but clear voice, said: 
‘ Will.’ I made no answer. He called again, and 
added, ‘ We are safe now, why don’t you answer ? ’ 
He came still nearer, and finding that I could not 
remain concealed, I stood up and asked him who 
he was ? he replied, 6 Lewis,’ and seemed to be 
greatly frightened, when he found that he did not 
know me, 

“ The other man now came up ; their tale was 
soon told. A party of five, had left Mississippi 
and were running away. They had been out a 
month, and during the rains had lost their course. 
They had suffered so much from hunger that one 
of them went crazy, and his howlings and other in- 
discretions had betrayed them. A pack of hounds 
had been put upon their trail, and the hunters had 


124 


BELLE SCOTT. 


come upon them ; at the first shot one had been 
killed, and another so badly wounded, that he 
died a few days afterward. They had fled until 
they came to a large swamp, and taken shelter on 
dry ground, near to what they supposed to be the 
middle of it. Their wounded companion died in 
great agony, and they had buried him. Their 
place was so surrounded by water, and so far in 
the swamp, that the dogs could not trail them ; 
nor could the hunters get there on horseback. 
They determined to stay till the pursuit should 
cease, and then to go on. At night they went 
out in search of food ; and in one of these excur- 
sions they saw my fire, and supposed tkat one 
of their companions who had separated from them 
when they were closely pursued, had kindled it. 

“We left the place where I was, in the edge of 
the swamp, and started to go to theirs. They led 
the way, and after a very long, weary walk over 
fallen logs, sometimes sinking deep in the mire, at 
other times wading through stagnant water, we 
came to their hiding-place. They had built a little 
hut and filled it with leaves. They had a wild 
hog, an opossum, and an alligator all just killed, 
and we soon had an abundant meal. 

“ New and friendly faces and voices, gave Lucy 
great joy ; she listened eagerly to every word they 


aaron’s narrative. 125 

said, and looked by the light of the fire, steadily 
in the face of each speaker, as if she were en- 
chanted. They seemed pleased with her, too. 
They had not seen the face of a child for several 
weeks, and Lucy was soon a great favorite with 
them.” 


1 1 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


MINTE. 

In June in the year 1834, a traveler in the 
western part of Virginia, was slowly descending 
a steep hill. At a turn in the road he stopped 
almost involuntarily to gaze upon the beauti- 
ful landscape before him. At the bottom of the 
hill ran a deep, wide creek, the banks of which 
were shaded on both sides by great sycamore 
trees and wild rose-bushes and other shrubs and 
flowers in full bloom; which were mirrored in 
the slowly-moving green water below them. A 
flock of parroquets were wheeling in the air, and 
showing at each turn their brilliant plumage of 
green and gold. 

On the western side of the creek was a fertile 
valley half a mile in width, which extended 
north and south as far as the eye could reach. 
Behind the valley rose a long line of .hills, covered 
to their tops with trees, and beyond this range 
of hills towered majestically to the clouds, the 
Alleghany mountains, all green with the fresh 
verdure of spring. As the south wind blew 
026 ) 


MINTE. 


127 


gently over the forest, the waving trees showed 
unbroken terraces of moving living green, that 
rose pile on pile, and height upon height, until 
the vision was closed by the clouds that rested 
on the tops of the mountains. Wreaths of white 
mist were rising at different points of the land- 
scape, which gently curled and waved, as like 
spirits they rose and melted in the air. 

All along the valley were farm houses, and 
orchards and meadows of deep green, and fields 
of clover in full bloom. Large fields of ripe wheat 
waved like lakes of melted gold, as the wind blew 
gently over them; and there were great fields 
of corn, green as emerald, just shooting into tassel 
with red and yellow silk. The first pencilings 
of the morning sun rising over the North moun- 
tain, shed their mellow luster over the scene, and 
rose in long waves of golden light upon the 
dark green forests and sides of the hills and 
mountains. 

A road rough with loose stones and huge rocks, 
lay on the west bank of the creek, and followed 
its windings. 

At a turn in this road which brought those who 
passed along it into view of the traveler, he saw 
first a buggy driven by a young man neatly 
dressed, and behind that a row of seven or eight 
wagons, each drawn by two horses, and filled with 


128 


BELLE SCOTT. 


negro and mulatto women and children. Behind 
these wagons followed a coffle of eighty slaves. 
They were in chains. The iron ring around the 
right wrist of one, was attached by a chain to a 
like ring on the left wrist of another, and in the 
middle of these chains, were rings that attached 
the whole party to a leading chain that extended 
along the whole line. 

They moved slowly along the uneven, winding 
road, and at a distance looked like some great 
monster undulating and twining with the ine- 
qualities of the ground over which it passed. 

Upon riding nearer, the traveler saw an old 
man of sixty years, chained to a bright mulatto 
boy of sixteen. The old man’s face was thought- 
ful, and full of care ; the boy walked bravely on, 
but in spite of his efforts to restrain them, tears 
would start to his eyes and steal down his cheeks. 
Some of the men were talking composedly, but 
all were serious ; the men were variously dressed, 
some of them in the coarse clothing of field 
laborers, others in well fitting garments of good 
quality. 

Behind the coffle were five one horse carriages, 
each driven by a well dressed white man, with a 
colored woman seated at his side. 

In the last of these carriages sat a woman so 
nearly white, that, but for her position, it would 


MINTE, 


129 


have been difficult to discover the traces of inter- 
mixture with the African race. Her soft black 
hair hung un cared for, shading her large lustrous 
black eyes ; her features were as finely and 
delicately cut as a statue by the hands of an 
accomplished artist. She moved not, spoke not, 
looked not either to the right or left, and seemed 
to be wholly unconscious of objects around her; 
on her face sat, not sorrow nor traces of mental 
suffering, nor grief, nor anguish, nor misery — but 
despair. 

If you have stood by the gallows when the 
doomed man took his last look at the scene before 
him, and at the sunshine : if you have stood by 
the side of the gay young man, when his warm 
blood was gushing from a wound inflicted by the 
assassin in the street, and he had just been in- 
formed that he had but a minute to live ; if you 
have been at the deathbed of the hardened sinner, 
whose eye is now too dim to see the brazen serpent 
that Moses placed on a pole for the healing of 
Israel, and heard him whisper with his last breath, 
u It is too late — I am lost ; ” if you have seen the 
widow, standing by the grave of her only son, as 
the first clods fell upon his coffin ; if you have 
seen the young mother frantic, as her babe has 
just fallen, quickly as the flower of the meadow 
before the scythe of the mower— then you may 


BELLE SCOTT. 


130 

imagine the despair that spread its raven wings 
over the face of that poor woman. 

The procession halted. A man dressed in gray 
clothing, burly and big, mounted on a fat and 
clumsy horse, rode up, and inquired for the owners 
or agent of the owners of the coffle of < servants.’ 
He was told that the owners were a few miles in 
the rear, but that the agent was the young man 
who rode in front. He pricked his steel into the 
fat side of his horse, trotted to the young man, 
and stated that he wished to buy a negro woman. 
He was told that the woman in the rear was for 
sale, and would be sold at a low price ; but after 
a close inspection he refused to purchase her. 
Another woman was then shown to him. He ex- 
amined her carefully, and the purchase was made. 

“ But,” said the agent, “ she has a little child, 
a girl about four years old ; you must buy that, 
too.” 

The woman, who had been sullen and silent, now 
became furious ; she declared that her child was 
free, and that the agent had no right to sell it. 
Two of the white men had, by this time, joined 
the group, and she appealed to them as witnesses 
that the child was free. After some delay they 
admitted her statement, and the child was handed 
over to the purchaser of Minte, her mother. The 
price was paid, and the company were starting, 


MINTE. 


131 


when a white boy ran up and said, addressing 
himself to the agent. 

“ Mr. Tibbs wants you to come right quick to 
him ; something ’s the matter with the gal he has 
to take care of.” 

The agent went quickly to the rear, and there, 
seated upright in the buggy, by the side of Tibbs, 
sat Patsy, the woman already described. A 
single drop of blood rested just below one of the 
corners of her mouth ; her face was sad, even in 
death, for she was dead : her heart had broken. 

Poor Patsy! In her position as housemaid, 
in a family in Washington city, she had observed 
the deportment of cultivated persons, and her own 
manners were as quiet and refined as the best 
culture could make them. The same dreams of 
love and happiness passed through her girlish 
imagination, and warmed her heart, that cheer and 
soften the hearts of all her sex. And then she 
married — married the lover of her youth and of 
her choice — and loved him more intensely than 
she loved her own life. He was a free man, a 
mechanic, industrious and sober, and they both 
hoped that, by his industry, she would soon 
become free. Children clustered around their 
humble hearth, and the footsteps of their little 
feet as they followed her, made music to her heart. 


132 


BELLE SCOTT. 


They threw their arms around her neck, and she 
half forgot in their caresses that she was a slave. 
Her little boy, with his rich clusters of hair shading 
his bronzed forehead, was dearer to her, because 
he bore the manly image of his father. Her little 
prattling girl, wiped with her soft hands, the tears 
from her face, and soothed her with kind and com- 
forting words when she wept from the fear of 
separation. The smiles of her infant were dear, 
as such smiles always are, to the mother’s heart. 
And then came gloomy forebodings of her sale to 
the traders — not the most abject submission that 
a slave can offer, trembling as she does so, to a 
cold and heartless mistress, could remove from 
the brow of that mistress, the frown that gathered 
there when Patsy approached. And then her 
husband meekly offered to purchase her ; but the 
whole purchase-money was demanded in one pay- 
ment, and in cash ; and he had no power to make 
it. He offered to labor for years on years, till he 
should become an old man; but that offer was 
rejected. Then followed nervous apprehensions 
of sale ; so that Patsy started and trembled at the 
sound of every approaching footstep. And then 
came the hour so long delayed, so greatly dreaded, 
when the trader and his gang sprang upon her in 
her little home, and tore her from the arms of her 


MINTE. 


133 


children ; the last look — the last embrace of her 
little Harry, and her girl, and her babe. Can you 
wonder that she died broken-hearted, far away 
from all she loved — with no kind hand to soothe 
the anguish of her dying hour, and that a drop 
of blood rested upon her face ! 


CHAPTER XIX. 


THE DROP OF BLOOD. 

The traveler went on his journey, but that drop 
of blood on the pale face of that poor slave, as she 
sat cold in death, made a deep impression upon 
him. Perhaps the optic nerve was diseased. In 
after years, he saw it in places where its presence 
was least looked for. He saw it on bales of cotton, 
and hogsheads of sugar; on newspapers — even reli- 
gious papers were spotted with it ; on the pages 
of the novelist and the poet ; on books of science 
and of ethics ; on records of courts he saw it spread, 
until they were, in places, covered with crimson. 
He saw it on the ballot and in the right hand of 
the voter, till the palm of that right hand was red 
with blood. 

He saw it beneath the blaze of gas-lights, where 
long rows of silver and cut-glass ornamented the 
table, and beautiful women and brave and learned 
men sat joyously at the feast ; and there, in a 
moment of revery, that drop of blood oozed out 
upon each plate, and spotted each glass, until his 
soul sickened at the sight. 

.( 134 ) 


THE DROP OF BLOOD. 


135 


A beautiful young bride, decked in white robes, 
with orange-flowers upon her head and surrounded 
by groups of laughing girls, was arranging her 
hair before she went down to her marriage, cast a 
glance at the diamond ring which the bridegroom 
had just placed upon her finger, and turned white 
as Italian marble, and shuddered in every limb. 
The traveler at her side saw in that diamond the 
drop of blood, fresh and crimson. Was the vision 
of the bride made unnaturally acute by her 
excitement, and did she see it too ? In a moment 
it was gone — the diamond shone in its bright 
splendor; the bride became composed, and in a 
few moments was — wife. 

A young minister charmed by the fervor of his 
eloquence and his piety all who heard him — the 
traveler sat in his pew and saw that drop of blood 
spread itself over his manuscript, as it lay upon 
the Bible ; till it covered every page. 

He saw Christians meet together, to commemo- 
rate the love of Him who died for them ; and 
that drop of blood floated like oil upon the wine, 
and spotted all the bread, as those Christians 
pressed them to their lips and prayed to be for- 
given. 

But he did not see it on the works of nature. 
The deep blue sky was stainless, as when it bent 


136 


BELLE SCOTT. 


over Eden before the sin of man. The white 
lily bloomed radiant and glistening in its unsul- 
lied purity. The rose, seated in moss and dripping 
with dew, was immaculate in her queenly beauty, 
and the plumage of the dove, was all unstained. 

He opened the Book of God — and its every 
page and line were “ pure as the spirit that made 
it.” There was no spot there — Oh no ! all that 
his eye rested upon in it, was free from every 
stain and trace of blood. 

He consulted the learned Doctor Stebbins, who 
told him that the optic nerve was diseased, and 
that the diagnosis indicated amaurosis, and made 
a long prescription — which did the traveler no 
good. 

He consulted his beloved pastor, the venerable 
Doctor of Divinity — the Rev. Thomas Slowsee, 
who told him that his imagination was diseased, 
and tenderly and affectionately talked in mild 
and gentle tones and terms of fanaticism, and the 
danger of losing one’s influence, and of organic 
law, and of the difference between religious and 
political questions, and the folly of meddling with 
strife that belongeth not to the meddler ; but as 
the good man talked, he looked surprised; for he 
too saw the same spots of blood almost every- 
where — even upon holy things — and he too shared 


THE DROP OF BLOOD. 


137 


in the fanaticism that at first he had thought- 
lessly condemned ; for the disease proved to be 
contagious — and had, like other contagions, its 
own peculiar laws. Those who would, could see 
the spots as the traveler had seen them ; those 
who would not, were blinded. 


CHAPTER XX. 


LITTLE BEN. 

“ We walked nearly all night, part of the time 
we had to wade through water quite deep, until 
we came to the place where my new friends had 
their hiding-place. About twenty acres of ground 
without trees on it, rose above the level of the 
swamp; on it were two gentle swells of land. 

“ The hut of the party that I went with, was on 
one of them; and on the other was the hut of 
Little Ben. It was in the shape of a haycock, 
and made of the bark of trees that reached from 
the ground up to a peak at the top. A small 
hole, large enough to be entered by a man stoop- 
ing as low as he could, was the only door. There 
was no window, nor any holes for light. Little 
Ben had caught a young wolf by the right fore- 
foot in a steel trap, which had broken the leg at 
the first joint, so that the foot was twisted in- 
wardly, and did not reach the ground. He had 
made the animal as tame as a dog ; and it was 
his constant companion. Little Ben generally 
dressed himself in skins ; but on great days, he 
( 138 ) 


LITTLE BEN. 


139 


wore an old suit of regimentals which he had 
brought with him, and carefully kept. At the 
top of his hut was a long pole, on which was a 
flag made of cotton cloth, with the stars and 
stripes marked on it with charcoal and pokeberry 
juice. He had round his neck an iron collar, 
with two prongs that passed by his ears and went 
up several inches higher than his head. This 
collar had been so well case-hardened, that it could 
not be filed off. He was a short, heavy-set man, 
with a large head and muscular arms, and seemed 
to be very strong. His eyes were red and sunk 
deeply in his head, and over them were large, 
heavy eyebrows. He was between fifty and 
sixty years old, but his hair was jet-black and 
bushy. 

“The next night after I got there, my new 
friends told me that Little Ben was in one of his 
ways, and would sing his c Star-spangled Banner’ 
song : that he always did so when the moon was 
full. 

“Near his hut was the trunk of a large sycamore 
tree that had fallen down; on which Ben had 
made a place to stand when he sung. 

“About ten o’clock he went out with his wolf, 
who seemed to understand what he was about, got 
on the fallen tree and began to sing. At the end 
of each verse he uttered a low, sad howl, in which 


140 


BELLE SCOTT. 


the wolf joined, and then after a moment went on 
to the next verse, and the two howled together 
until the song was ended. Then he and the wolf 
howled for several minutes, got down from the 
tree, and the two went to his hut. I cannot tell 
exactly what he sung, but no one ever could sleep 
while Little Ben and his wolf were singing and 
howling his ‘ Star-spangled Banner’ song. It 
seemed to be something like this : 


Here ’s Little Ben — all alone in the wide world — 
He ’s got no ^ife, now ; 

He got no children now ; 

Never had any house, 

Never had any land, 

Never had himself — 

Master own me all. 

The Star-spangled Banner, Oh ! long may it wave 
Q’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave. 

And then followed a series of howls. 

Had a wife once, 

She love him dearH ; 

Lived great while together ; 

On ole master’s place ; 

She sold now — ’way up Red river— 

Took her ’way from Little Ben — 

Never see her more, 

Never hear from her again. 

The Star-spangled Banner, Oh ! say, does it wave 
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave ? 


LITTLE BEN. 


Then he sold Rachel, 

For a thousand dollars, 

While I was out at work ; 

Lef’ her in the morning, 

Came home for dinner, 

Rachel gone forever ! 

The Star-spangled Banner, Oh ! say, does it wave 
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave 


Then he sell Sally, 

Down to New Orleans ; 

Sell her to a Frenchman — 

I seen her once there ; 

She ride in her carriage, 

Dressed up in silk and satin ; — 

Good to her ole father, 

And she try to buy him, 

But master wouldn’t sell me ! 

Oh ! say, does that Star-spangled Banner still wave 
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave 


Then Tom he ran ’way, 

Off in the swamp ground ; 

And the hounds they caught him, 

And tear him till he dead ! 

Oh ! say, does that Star-spangled Banner yet wave 
O’er the land of the free, and this home of the bravo 


Then Missis took Milly ; 

She whipped her and whipped her, 
And wash her back with red-pepper, 
To keep the flies off it — 

And she whipped her again ; 

While her back was all sore — 

And Milly she died. 


12 


142 


BELLE SCOTT. 


And dey put her in de ground 
And say she hab fever ! 

Oh I say, does the Star-spangled Banner still wave 
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave ? 


Massa ride fine horse — 

Missis ride in de carriage ; 

Nice heaven here for ’em— 

Big heaven in de next world ! 

That Star-spangled Banner, Oh ! when will it wave 
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave ? 

“ Sometimes, when the moon was full, he dressed 
himself in his old suit of regimentals, and sung 
and howled, accompanied by his wolf, all night. 
At sunrise they went into the hut and slept all 
day. 

“ He was harmless, silent and gloomy ; yet with 
all his gloom, he was kind to all who were on his 
island, for he had made the place his own, and 
treated all who came there as his guests. 

“He had corn and vegetables planted on the 
island, and caught birds and game for food. In 
some places there were ponds of water in the 
swamp, in which he caught fish. He always gave 
his guests food when he had it ; and when his 
stock of meat and fish was exhausted he got more. 

“ We stayed here three days, one of which was 
Sunday. I was sitting on a log reading the Bible 
to my child, when little Ben saw me from his hut 


LITTLE BEN. 


143 


and came to us. He sat down and listened a 
long time, and I read on because it seemed to 
please him. 1 read the passage about John the 
Baptist. He stopped me and said, ‘Read that 
again,’ I did so. He put his hands to his head 
and bent it down, almost to his knees, and sat in 
silence. I stopped reading as soon as I saw he 
was not listening. After four or five minutes he 
raised his head and said, ‘ I see it now.’ 

“ 4 See what ? ’ 

u c I see it now ; it’s just this ; the good Lord 
loved John Baptist. He was a good man ; that 
king a bad man. But the Lord let him cut off 
John Baptist’s head. What he let him for ? just 
this : it didn’t make any matter whether he live 
great while or little while in this world ; so he let 
him cut off his head, and kill him in jail. The 
king live great while — forgot all ’bout John de 
Baptist — think he do no harm ; a great man and 
live in a great house, and then he die too. All 
over with him then — all his king gone clean away. 
Only like another man then, and he have to an- 
swer for all he done to John de Baptist. Suppose 
he couldn’t do it, what then ? 

“ ‘ I see another thing here, too : the good Lord 
lets a bad man kill a good man. May-be he lets 
a bad man make a good man slave, and keep him 
slave, and put a collar on his neck. I see it now. 


144 


BELLE SCOTT. 


He just lets people be, to see what they will do 
in this world ; lets ’em kill one another, and make 
slave of one another, and whip one another. He 
looks on. Don’t say one word, till it’s all done ; 
and then ’ — he paused. 

“ ‘ And then what ? ’ 

“ ‘ I don’t know what then ; but it ’pears to me, 
that them that’s killed and abused and made 
slave of, ain’t so bad off then as them that did all 
these things. It ’pears so to me. I don’t know 
much — Little Ben got no l’arnin’, but it ’pears to 
me, that after awhile — may-be a good while— that 
the man who put this collar on my ole neck, will 
find it heavier than I do, and wear it a great while 
longer than I will.’ 

“ Next day we took leave of our friends. Little 
Ben and his wolf went with us. He knew the 
paths, and offered to be our guide. 

“ He took my child in his arms and said he 
would carry her. Our way led over narrow and 
crooked paths across logs; sometimes we waded 
for half an hour through mud and water : the large 
trees were all hung with moss, and the whole 
woods were dark almost as night. 

"Little Ben went before me with my child in his 
arms, and acted as pilot. We heard no sounds 
but the croaking of large frogs, and the hootings 
of owls. We walked all day as fast as we could, 


LITTLE BEN. 


145 


but did not reach the edge of the swamp before 
night. Sometimes we passed through great cane- 
brakes, so thick that none but a person who knew 
the road could have found his way. 

“ When we got nearly to the edge of the swamp, 
he stopped on a dry piece of ground, and told us 
to rest here until night, and then to travel as fast 
as we could; for he said the men-hunters were 
always about the swamp with their dogs. 

“ ‘ Look here/ said he, while he led me a short 
distance. I looked, and saw the skeleton of a man. 
On the bones of one of the legs was an iron ring. 
‘This has been here/ he said, ‘for two years. 
You ’ll see a good many of them before you get 
clean away from this place. They kills as many 
as they catches. There, two more dead men 
close by here, and all round this swamp people 
has been killed. Did you ever hear of Wat- 
kins ? ’ 

“‘No.’ 

“ ‘ Well, may-be, you ’ll see him. He ’s the 
one that kills our people, and catches all he can. 
He shoots ’em, and cuts ’em with his knife, and 
sets his dogs on ’em. He ’s always at it.’ 

“ After awhile he said, ‘ Head some more out 
of your good book. May-be it’s the last chance 
I ’ll have, in this world, to hear another word of 
it. I can’t read.’ 


146 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“I read to him until it was too dark to read 
any longer. 

“ ‘ I think/ he said, ' if I could hear you read 
that book every day, this hotness would go away 
out of my poor old head. It seems to cool it. 
It sounds good to me. How odd it is that one 
man can read every word of it, when he chooses, 
and another man can’t! It seems to me that 
people have to take care of each other in this 
world. I have shown you the way out of this 
swamp ; ought not somebody show me the way 
through that big swamp, that all us people have 
to wade in all our lives.’ 

“After we had rested and taken some food, I 
was about to bid him good-by; but he said he 
would go on further with us. 

“ He again took my child in his arms. 

'' ' Let me carry her,’ said I. 

“ ‘ Oh no ! it does me good to carry the little 
gal. It ’minds me of the time when I carried 
my own little children. It makes my heart soft. 
It makes me cry, but all the time it makes me 
feel good too. Can’t carry my own children any 
more; never see any of ’em again. All gone 
from me.’ 

“'Let me see,’ said I, 'if I can’t get that 
collar off your neck.’ 

“ ' No, it can’t be done ; I must die wid it on 


LITTLE BEN. 


147 


me. Tried hundred times to get it off, but it 
won’t come off. Got file but can’t file it at all.’ 

“I still bad my pitchfork, and other articles 
that I had found at the burnt house. We came 
to an open place in the woods, and the moon and 
stars made light enough for me to see. 

“ By my direction he laid down by the side of 
a log, and rested his head against it. I gathered 
up a great deal of moss and put around his collar 
inside, so as to keep it from hurting him. While 
I worked, the wolf stood by, looking keenly at 
every motion that I made. I then applied my 
pitchfork to his collar. The wolf growled furiously. 
Little Ben called him and held him by his lame 
foot, while I, with my foot on one side of the 
collar and the pitchfork, worked at it for an hour. 
It seemed as if I could not break it. At last, 
with one sudden wrench it cracked ; Little Ben 
leaped up ; he looked amazed and stupefied. The 
wolf looked in his face and whined. 

“‘I hear it crack,’ he said. 

“‘It did crack. It’s almost off.’ 

“ ‘ What dis collar come off me ! I’ve had it 
on dis ole neck ten years ; I live wid it on, sleep 
wid it on, and eat wid it on — part of my own 
self almost.’ 

“ He laid down, again, and with another effort 
the collar was broken. I opened it and took it 


148 


BELLE SCOTT. 


4 from his neck. Little Ben took it in his hands, 
held it up, and by the light of the stars carefully 
examined it ; then rubbed his neck, and threw the 
collar on the ground. The wolf seized it in his 
teeth and shook it as if it had been a wild animal. 

“ While I was taking the collar off : 4 Listen,’ 

said Ben, ‘ don’t you hear dogs bark ? ’ I stopped 
a moment and heard them. 

‘“It’s a sign,’ said Ben. ‘I have had three 
collars filed off before, and always the dogs barked 
as they were taking them off. They never barked 
at all while men were putting the collars on me.’ 

“ 6 What makes ’em do so ? ’ 

“ ‘ It’s a sign,’ he said. He then took Lucy in 
his arms. 

“ ‘ Had you not better go back ?’ said I. 

No ; I want to stay with this child as long 
as I can — ’minds me so much of my poor little 
children. Makes me think of ole times. Seems 
as if I never can leave you.’ 

“‘Well then, come on with us.’ 

“ ‘ No ; can’t leave my own place. Lived thar 
ten years.’ 

“ ‘ Why can’t you leave it, Ben ?’ 

“ ‘ Don’t know — bound to stay there till I die. 
Don’t want to go to Canada, I like to live in 
de swamp — best place for me ; see no white man 
dar. Dey freard of me ; can’t get nigh me ; and 


LITTLE BEN. 


149 


wolf here howl when anything come nigh — so I 
know when any hounds about. Don’t want to go 
anywhere where white man see me. White man 
put another collar on me. Black man take collar 
off. White man can’t do it by himself.’ 

“ We had traveled nearly all night as well as all 
day, and I could hardly walk ; I told Ben so. 

“ ‘ Come on a little further, and may be you will 
be out of white man’s way.’ We did so and 
found a hiding-place. Little Ben and his wolf 
left us, and we staid there till night.” 

13 


CHAPTER XXI. 


aaron’s narrative. 

“ At daylight the next morning, I heard some 
one walking carefully through the leaves. We 
laid down so as to hide ourselves. The man 
seemed to be coming toward us. Our hearts beat 
quickly; Lucy trembled, and I feared would scream; 
but we were still. The man came within ten feet 
of us, and stopped, looked around him but not at 
us. His side was to us. He was about thirty- 
five years old, and had no coat or vest on. His 
sleeves were rolled up above his elbows. He had 
a black beard which hung down on his breast, and 
long, black, curly hair. In a red belt around his 
waist there was a pair of large revolvers, and on 
the other side a bowie-knife with a silver handle. 
He held in his hand a short rifle. He was a man 
of powerful frame, and walked like a cat. 

“ In a few minutes he went away without having 
seen us. I knew it was Watkins from what little 
Ben had told us of him. 

“We were so scared that we trembled nearly 
all day. If he had seen us we would have either 
been lulled or taken back into slavery. 

050 ) 


aaron’s narrative. 


151 


“ It rained for several days after that, and we 
wandered through the dark nights, over fallen 
trees, and through the woods without a path, and 
through water, and deep swamps. 

“My child got sick. We were both almost 
dead with hunger. One dark day we ventured to 
travel ; Lucy walked, for I was too weak to carry 
her. She was before me and ran back greatly 
scared. ‘ Look here, father ; ’ I looked and saw 
the skeletons of two persons. The bones were 
covered with green mould. A large rifle-bullet 
was in the front of one of the skulls. 

“ The next day we saw another set of human 
bones, but there were no marks of violence upon 
them. He had probably starved to death; I 
thought so, because we were nearly famished. 

“We wandered on and on through the cold 
drenching rain, and over creeks so full that we could 
hardly get over them. No game could be seen. All 
was silent and dark and desolate. The gray moss 
dripped with water, no stars or moon appeared at 
night. Sometimes we heard the stealthy, cat-like 
tread of the panther, but that did not scare us. 
It did not want to enslave us. Again and again 
in our weary wanderings, we passed by the bones 
of men and women who, like us, had longed for 
freedom, and found death. Would we too find 
only death ? ” 


CHAPTER XXII. 


patsy’s grave. 

On a rocky knoll by the road-side, where a 
narrow lane came down to it, two men were 
digging a shallow grave. Their work was soon 
done, and a long box made of rough boards, in 
which was the body of Patsy, was lowered into 
the grave. No other persons were there. The 
broken earth was carelessly thrown in, and the 
burial was over. They placed no stone to mark 
her resting-place, and made no mound of earth 
above it. The crescent moon was riding in ma- 
jesty surrounded by hosts of brilliant stars, and 
white clouds were slowly floating like snow-wreaths 
over the clear blue sky. A balmy south wind 
murmured as it passed, bearing on its wings the 
fragrance of a thousand flowers, and when the 
men left the place all was as still, and calm, and 
sweet as was Eden before our first parents sinned. 

A half-witted negro boy returning home from 
a mill, was riding slowly along the road soon after 
the men went away. He told his fellow slaves, 
that before he came to the place, he saw, standing 

( 152 ) 


SUPERSTITION. 


153 


by the grave, amid a cluster of sumachs, and 
sassafras, and persimmon trees, two white and 
glittering shadows, bright as the sun, and heard 
music so sweet and sad, that he cried like a 
little child ; and that he saw them slowly going 
up into the air, but now their songs were full of 
joy; and that another form was with them, like 
a bright cloud when the sun is shining on it ; and 
he looked at them till they went up far in the 
sky and faded like white mist out of his sight, 
and he could hear their music no more. 

And down to this day, some of the slaves in 
that neighborhood say, that on a certain time in 
June, they hear at midnight, above that grave, 
delicious music, at first sad as the wailing of a 
broken-hearted mother for her child ; and that as 
it rises higher and higher in the air, it becomes 
more joyous, till at last it is a rapture of sweet 
songs, and their hearts grow soft and warm as 
they hear it, and they feel happy as if they were 
in heaven. 

The rocky knoll is still there, but the fence 
has been removed, so that it stands in a corner of 
the field, and persimmon, and sassafras trees, and 
sumach bushes cover it ; and over the neglected 
and almost forgotten grave of Patsy, a wild rose 
grows and sheds its fragrance all around it, and 
guards the sleeping dust that lies below. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


aaron’s narrative. 

“One morning at the risk of being seen, we 
continued our journey. Very soon after daylight, 
I killed a partridge, that I saw sitting on a 
fence, with my bow. I found an open piece of 
ground covered with grass, at the foot of a large 
oak, nearly hid by hazel bushes. Here I made a 
fire, and roasted the bird, Lucy was eating it 
with great relish, her face bright with joy ; I was 
sitting a, few feet from her, watching and enjoying 
her pleasure, as much as if I had been satisfying 
my own hunger. Suddenly I saw Lucy’s eyes 
open wide, and one loud scream burst from her. 
At the same instant, five large hounds sprang 
upon both of us ; one hound, with ash-colored hair 
and large black spots, seized her by the throat 
and shook her as if he would have torn her head 
from her body ; another caught her feet, and was 
tearing them to pieces. I sprang upon the dogs, 
and with one wrench with my hands, tore them 
away ; other dogs were upon me, but I took no 
notice of them. In an instant, I killed the two 
( 154 ) , 


aaron’s narrative. 


155 


that had seized my child, and I believe, had 
crippled all the others. They ran howling from 
me. I turned to follow them, and saw on horse- 
back, a man dressed in black, with a white cravat 
on his neck. He seemed greatly scared, turned 
his horse and fled as soon as I saw him. 

“Lucy seemed to be quite dead; no blood 
flowed from her wounds. I took her in my arms, 
and ran as fast as I could. After a few minutes, 
I saw that she still breathed. I soon found a 
stream of water, and washed her wounds, and 
bathed her face, till she opened her eyes and 
looked at me, but did not know me, 

“ After a while, I hunted the best hiding-place 
I could find by the side of the run, and nursed 
her until her senses came back, so that she knew 
me. She still trembled at every noise, and put 
her little arms around me, and looked up in my 
face so kindly, but could not speak. All that 
day and the night afterward, she did not recover 
her voice, and could scarcely hold up her head. 
Her neck was very sore, her legs and feet badly 
torn, and her body in pain, wherever I touched 
her. I cannot tell my feelings ; if I could have 
died for her, I would have done so : whenever she 
writhed in pain, my heart seemed as if it would 
burst. I thought over nearly all my past life. 
It had been passed in slavery. My only child, all 


156 


BELLE SCOTT. 


that I had on earth ; all that I loved, or cared for 
almost in this world, had been hunted by dogs, 
nearly killed ; and for what ? She was innocent, 
and I alone was to be blamed, for attempting to 
run away from slavery. Now she was sick and 
wounded, and I could not help her ; had not even 
food to give her ; no friend to aid me ; no shelter 
for her head, from the cold night winds, no cloth- 
ing to protect her ! How bitter was my fate ! 
how sad the fate of my child. 

“ I knew it would be still worse, if we should 
be discovered ; for then our capture would be cer- 
tain. Early in the next night, weak with excite- 
ment, sorrow, and hunger, sick myself at my very 
heart, I took my poor, dear suffering child in my 
arms, and again started, to find if I could, a safe 
hiding-place. Lucy could now speak; she was 
nervous and frightened, but her face was calm, 
and as she rested her little head upon my bosom, 
she from time to time, consoled me with her kind 
words. At almost every step she suffered pain. 
I found a place that seemed to be secure, sheltered 
by trees, and near where we now are ; and there, 
under a large, leaning magnolia, I made her a 
bed of leaves, caught a bird for her, and some 
fish for myself; but I saw each day, more and 
more clearly, that she could not live. 

“ One morning I had prayed with Lucy accord- 


aaeon’s narrative. 


157 


ing to my custom, and was reading at her request, 
when looking earnestly in my face, she asked me : 

“ ‘ Father, why should one man be born to be 
all his life a slave, and another man to be his 
master ? ’ I could not answer, but took her in 
my arms ; a smile brightened her wasted features, 
and she said : 

“ £ Father, do you remember the sunset that we 
watched, one evening, when we were at the old 
burnt house ? I see that sunset again. I see 
the red and golden clouds spread over the whole 
sky, and they turn and roll into each other; 
and two of them stand widely apart as if they 
were the pillars of the great gate of heaven. And 
far down between them I see brighter and still 
brighter glories; and away beyond them still 
there is a brightness, but it is not that of the 
setting sun. And I see in the great space 
around it thousands of figures, all clothed as if 
their garments were torn from the covering of 
the sun. And I see a garden, father, and in it a 
river clear as the light, and its waters go softly 
among trees green and beautiful and covered 
with fruit. And the figures are slowly, slowly 
coming to us. They will not take us back into 
slavery, father ! they will not hurt us, they are 
near to us now! They have wreaths made of 
stars upon their heads, and their hands are 


158 


BELLE SCOTT. 


stretched out and beckoning me to come to them, 
father: they are all around us; one of them is 
close to me — is bending over me, father.’ 

“I pressed her to my bosom, and looked in her 
face. She was dead ! ” 


CHAPTER XXIV. 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN, 

The reader will remember, that when the man 
who bought Minte rode up, and inquired for the 
owners of the coffle of slaves, he was informed that 
they were a few miles behind the gang. 

On the top of a high ridge of the western slope of 
the North mountains stood a tavern, a white frame 
house, two stories high with a porch along the 
whole front, and four locust trees before the door. 
On the sign, in large golden letters, were the 
words, “ Mountain Home.” 

In the parlor sat three men, one of them, Mr. 
Williams, a man of slender person, regular features 
and well dressed • another, Mr. Bullard, a stout, 
burly man with a red face and bushy, gray hair 
that stood up like bristles; and the third, a 
long, lean, pale-faced man whose limbs seemed 
to be unjointed, dressed in a full suit of black. 
This, oh reader ! is our old aquaintance, Mr. St. 
John. Twenty years have passed over him since 
we last saw him, but he is still in the full vigor 
of active life. 


( 159 ) 


160 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ I tell you/’ said Williams, " it will not do ; the 
thing is unheard of. I respect your motives, my 
dear sir, and have a high regard for your feelings ; 
but, with the utmost deference,” waving his hand 
toward Mr. St. John, "it cannot, and I think, 
ought not be done.” 

"Why not,” said Mr. St. John. "I can see no 
earthly reason for your objections, except only 
the novelty of the enterprise, and I do see a great 
many in favor of my proposition. You know that 
now, among the best families who hold slaves, they 
are in the practice, some of them daily, and others 
I am sorry to say, only once a week, of assem- 
bling their slaves together and reading the Bible 
and praying with them. Who is there with so 
hard a heart as not to feel deep respect for these 
tokens of piety? And yet sir,” and he raised 
his voice, "I do not doubt that the first slave- 
holder, who introduced this practice, excited 
remark and surprise. You know too, that our 
best ministers are slaveholders ; yet I cannot but 
think that when a minister of the Gospel first 
bought a slave, he was persecuted for this exhibi- 
tion of Christian principle. It is, sir, I do assure 
you, only the novelty of the thing that surprises 
you.” 

"I admit,” said Mr. Williams, "that your 
arguments are strictly logical. It is right to hold 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 


181 


slaves ; they are our property. It is useless to 
hold them unless we have the right to sell them, 
since they would be of no value to any one without 
the exercise of that right at pleasure. If it is 
right in one man to sell, it is right in another 
man to buy. The buyer and seller stand on an 
equal platform. It is right for the owner to take 
them from one state into another, just as he takes, 
at his pleasure, his other property. If he has the 
right to take them from one state into another, he 
has the right to secure them so that they can be 
so taken.” 

“ Yes,” interrupted Mr. Bullard , Ct that ’s clear — 
I see it myself now. It ’s no use to have niggers 
unless you can sell ’em — and it ’s no use at all for 
us to buy ’em without we can take ’em down 
South again and sell ’em ; and we can’t do that 
without we chain ’em — I mean the men — for if 
we don’t chain ’em, it would take all our profits to 
hire guards to keep ’em ; and then where would 
be the use in the trade ? and if the trade breaks 
up, why then, in course, the whole system tum- 
bles down. I see it. But still, Mr. St. John, 
I don’t believe one word in your new scheme. 
It ’s all waste of time. I see no use for us to 
stop on Sunday, to keep the Sabbath day, as you 
call it, holy. It ’s not a bit of use for you to hold 
prayers night and morning over the niggers; 


162 


BELLE SCOTT. 


’cause they ’ve got no souls, as we have : you 
never seed a nigger, in all your life, that had a 
soul, any more than a hoss has ! ” 

Mr. St. John looked surprised. 

“ The negroes no souls, sir ! why I never heard 
of such a heresy before. Do you really think, 
Mr. Bullard, they are but beasts ? ” 

“ Certainly,” said Mr. Bullard, “I think so. 
Indeed I know it. Everybody else, that I know 
of, thinks so too ; you think so.” 

“ Indeed, Mr. Bullard, you do me the utmost 
injustice. No man has ever heard me express any 
such opinion. I am very sure that I never, even for 
a moment, entertained it. I have always thought 
that the negroes came from the same common 
stock that we do. But your argument, Mr. Bul- 
lard, is not extensive enough, for some of our 
people are nearly white ; now as to those, they 
ought to be allowed the rest of the Sabbath.” 

“ Indeed they ought not any such thing. They 
are all niggers, I tell you, white or black, and no 
man, woman or child who has one single drop of 
nigger blood in him or her, has any soul more than 
a brute, and everybody else thinks so too ; you 
do, excuse me, sir.” 

“ Indeed I do not think so, Mr. Bullard,” said 
Mr. St. John looking him fully in the face, “ I 
never thought so.” 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 


163 


“ Yes, indeed yon do, and so do all the rest of 
us. Mind, I don’t accuse you of lying. I never 
say that to a gentleman, if I can help it, for I 
know the consequences ; but you do think so, and 
so do all the rest of mankind.” 

“ Please explain yourself, my dear sir ; please 
explain yourself, Mr. Bullard.” 

“Well I’ll tell you, and it’s just this. If 
niggers has got souls, some of ’em will go to 
heaven, and they’ll tell all the angels such a mess 
of stuff on the white people, and us especially, that 
when we die, and go up there, there will be such 
a muss made, that we ’ll be glad to get out of the 
scrape.” 

“Mr. Bullard,” said Mr. St. John, “you shock 
me. Do you expect to go to heaven ? ” 

“Why certainly I do. Did you ever, in all 
your life, see a man that did not expect to go there 
when he died ? Expect to go to heaven indeed ! — 
certainly I do. But I can’t go to a heaven full 
of niggers, without they are kept chained. I never 
feel myself safe among niggers without they are 
well handcuffed.” 

“But, Mr. Bullard, this does not prove your 
assertion, that I believe negroes have no souls.” 

“ Well then, I’ll explain myself. You see, ef 
they are humans, as we are, then they ought to 
be treated like humans. Nobody does that. I’ve 


164 


BELLE SCOTT. 


been in the free states, and there too the white 
people go just as far as the law allows ’em to treat 
’em like brutes. They don’t sell ’em — good 
reason for that — they can’t; — they don’t hold 
’em as slaves, ’cause the law ’s ag’in it ; — but they 
treats the whole of ’em as near to brutes as they 
dare to for the law, and some of ’em goes a great 
deal further than the law allows. Now there must 
be some reason for this kind of conduct everywhere, 
and the true and honest thing is, just because 
every man ’s own sense tells him that somehow 
niggers is not human, like we are. Stand on that 
ground and you are safe ; but the very minit you 
take that thar other ground, that they are humans, 
then, begging your pardon, the devil’s to pay 
with the whole kit of us.” 

"Well, but (said Mr. St. John,) I do not see 
that your argument is good ; there are, and always 
will be, classes in society; and here we have a 
class of masters and a class of slaves.” 

"Very well, sir, here is, as you call it, a class 
of slaves — a class that you call men ; but they 
ain’t men, ’cause if they are men, then they ought 
to have men’s rights ; and they have not one bit 
of human rights.” 

“ Well, sir, the Bible plainly teaches that men 
may be held as slaves. St. Paul sent back a 
fugitive slave to his master.” 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 


165 


“ How’s that?” said Mr. Bullard: “ I’ve read 
the whole Testament twice through, and there is 
no such thing as a nigger in it, from beginning to 
end.” 

u Certainly,” said Mr, St. John : “ there were no 
Africans in Judea; they never left their own 
country, until they were forcibly brought away; 
and that commenced not more than three hundred 
years ago. The slaves alluded to in the Bible, were 
not negroes.” 

“ Who were they then?” said Mr. Bullard. 

“ Why, they were people of the same complexion 
with their masters; poor people who had been 
reduced to servitude.” 

“ Oho ! sir, that’s it, is it ? When you and other 
gentlemen talk about slavery being in the Bible, 
you mean white slavery, do you ? Well, that may 
suit you, but it don’t suit me at all, sir ; not a bit 
of it. I want you to prove from the Bible, that 
niggers is rightly slaves; and you turn round and 
prove that poor white people ought to be slaves : 
well, that don’t suit me. This business that we 
are in, is rather risky, and next year we may 
all be as poor as Job’s turkey ; so then we ought 
all be slaves, ought we ? No you oughtn’t. 
You’ve got a profession, and Mr. Williams, he 
might get be clerk for somebody ; but as for me, 
according to what you say, I ought to be a slave. 

H 


166 


BELLE SCOTT. 


That don’t suit me. So then when I hear of you 
and other preachers, saying that slavery’s all 
right, and that the Bible says so ; you only mean 
that poor people ought to be slaves to the rich. 
Well that’s comfortable — its quite refreshing ; but 
for my part, I ain’t willing to pay for preaching like 
that. Let those pay for it as likes it. Do you 
pray for it too, Mr. St. John ? Preaching and 
praying ought to go together ; a man ought not 
to preach one way, and pray another way. Don’t 
you know that half the poor people in this coun- 
try are grandchildren of rich men ; and I suppose 
it is always so. Now it must be nice in these 
rich men, to pay a man for preaching in such a 
way as to make their grandchildren slaves, as 
far as preaching can do it. They must be smart 
people— sensible people them, sir.” 

“But my dear sir,” said Mr. St. John, “they 
know that there is no danger of their children 
being made slaves ; we only prove the principle 
by the Bible, and then apply it to the negro 
race.” 

“ Well, I see that plain enough : you prove that 
niggers ought to be slaves, ’cause you say poor 
white people ought to be so ; and niggers is no 
better than poor white people. That’s real nice ; 
you ought to go down to North Carolina, and be 
a candidate for congress ; you would run fast if 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 


167 


you didn’t get elected, as soon as the people 
found out exactly what you meant — indeed you 
would, sir. 

“Now sir, all this won’t do. The only real 
solid ground we can stand on, is, that niggers are 
almost humans, but jest miss it a little ; that they 
come pretty nigh having souls, but not quite. 

“ If you go one step above that, we’re all gone, 
sir; we are all in for it, up to our eyes, sir.” 

“My dear sir,” said Mr. St. John, “I really 
have been unable to convey my exact meaning. 
It is probably my fault, that I have not yet so 
fully explained myself as to be well understood. 
The relation of the slave to his master, is a bene- 
ficent one. It gives to the poor negro food and 
clothing, and shelter and protection. He is so 
ignorant and has so little capacity, that this is 
greatly desirable for him. To the master it gives 
steady service and faithful, though humble friends. 
You see, then, that in the relation, as God in- 
tended it, there is great good to both parties.” 

“Yes, sir, I see it clearly enough, and under- 
stand you much better than you think I do. 
The real thing is, that I understand you better 
than you understand yourself. A common thing, 
sir, for all. Some men may open their eyes and 
stare when you tell ’em so, but it is so, sir, 

“ Now this is what you mean. You say it ’s 


168 


BELLE SCOTT. 


right for you to preach that slavery is upheld by 
the Bible. Well, sir, there I don ’t dispute you 
at all ; so far as niggers is concerned, I agree to 
that. Well then if it ’s right for you to preach so, 
it ’s right for every other preacher in the United 
States to preach so too. ’Cause ’ef the thing ’s in 
the Bible they all should preach it; just as it is 
thar, without caring a copper who it helps or who 
it hurts. 

“Yes,” said Mr. St. John, “I see that you do, 
so far, more fully understand me than many men 
who make greater pretensions to readiness of 
apprehension.” 

“ Oh ! as for readiness of apprehension, as you 
call it, which means I suppose, sir, quick-witted, 
we common people have just as much good mother 
wit, as you learned men have,” said Mr. Bullard, 
“and sometimes, begging your pardon, sir, but 
by no means a-meanin ’ you, I think we have a 
good deal more — but that ’s neither here nor there. 
Well then let me go on. 

“ Then you say that the Bible justifies white 
people being slaves, if they ’re poor and can’t take 
care of themselves ! ” 

“Oh no! sir,” said Mr. St. John; “I really 
have said no such thing.” 

“Begging your pardon, sir, you have not said 
so in words, but what you did say, means that, 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 


169 


people as can’t take care of themselves, ought to 
have somebody to take care of ’em ; people as is 
bad off, ought to have somebody to find ’em a 
home, and food, and clothes, and protection. 
Now I know a good many white people in these 
here states, in North Carolina, where I come from, 
and in Virginny and Georgy, and all these states 
south of Potomac, who make a mighty bad out 
takin’ care of themselves, and are sometimes bad 
off for corn-bread and clothes, and all sich things. 
Now if you and all the preachers will go about 
the country, and preach up that black people 
ought to be slaves, because they are so ignorant, 
and poor — by-and-by you will be getting to making 
white folks slaves, not all at once, but by little and 
little, edging in here and there, beginnin’ with 
paupers, and men who have been whipped for 
stealing sheep and chickens, and so creeping along 
by degrees, till at last, rich men will not only own 
all the land, but all the people white and black 
that live on it. I tell you again, sir, that don’t 
suit me. You prove too much for me, and not a 
bit in the right place. I want you to prove out 
of the Bible that niggers ought to be slaves, — I 
want it for a good reason too. It will help me in 
my trade, sir. Many a good bargain have I lost, 
because when I was getting it nearly closed, the 
man would stop and say, ‘ Well I don’t like to sell 


170 


BELLE SCOTT. 


human flesh and blood, the Bible ’s again it/ or 
may-be his wife would come out and say so to him 
and I would have to go away. Now if you will 
find me plain good places in the Bible where it 
says it ’s right to hold niggers, and sell ’em, and 
all that, I ’ll give you the price of the best nigger 
in our gang, as soon as we sell ’em at New Orleans ; 
I will make lots of money by it too, ’cause I can 
carry a little Bible in my pocket when I go out 
to buy, and with the leaves turned down and the 
places marked with a pencil, and then when I 
come across one of these here squeamish, half 
Christian, half devil cowards, I ’ll just pull out the 
book and read it to him, and make money by it. 
But if it only means you may sell white people, it 
would get me into bad scrapes, for they would try 
to whip me. People see into millstones quicker 
than you think for.” 

“But,” said Mr. St. John, “let us return to 
the point from which we started. You said that 
I believe negroes have no souls : this I denied ; 
but you reiterated the statement : that was not 
fair, Mr. Bullard, you did me injustice.” 

“ I meant no offense, sir ; not a bit of it, and 
I am sincere. I say again that you yourself 
don’t believe that a nigger has a soul no mor’n 
a hoss.” 

“ Why, Mr. Bullard, I am really surprised that 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 171 

you should say so, after I have told you exactly 
the contrary.” 

“Ah!” said Mr. Bullard, “ I told you that I 
understand you better than you know yourself, 
and I do, too. Mean no offense, sir — not a bit 
of it. You say they are men , but you treat ’em like 
beasts : conduct speaks louder than words. When- 
ever I see a man preaching and praying to niggers, 
I git mad right on the spot. Ef they’re brutes, 
what’s the fellow preaching and praying to brutes 
for ; ef they’re men” — here Mr. Bullard paused. 

“ Well, what follows if they are men,” said Mr. 
St. John. 

“Well,” said Mr. Bullard, “ef they’re men 
they ought to be treated like men — that ’s all that 
follows.” 

“ I agree with you,” said Mr. St. John, “ they 
should be treated as men ; — for that very reason 
I wish to stop to-morrow, that being the Sabbath, 
and give them rest and religious instruction.” 

“ Well,” said Mr. Bullard, “ if they are men ; 
they ought to be treated as men — and not like 
cattle ; that ’s my doctrine. If a man is a man, 
he is a man, sir.” 

“Don’t become excited, Mr. Bullard.” 

Oh ! I ’m not a bit mad at you, sir ; I like you ; 
I respect you : I don ’t like your doctrine — my 
doctrine is, that white people ought to be free and 


172 


BELLE SCOTT. 


niggers ought be slaves ; and I believe, if a vote 
could be got to-day, more than half the people in 
these United States would agree with me in that 
p’int. But still I like you, because, sir, you talk 
and act right out what you are. Now I know 
plenty of preachers, and deacons, and elders, and 
class-leaders who would be very much scandalized 
at being where and what you are to-day. No 
offense, sir • in principle they are exactly with you, 
but they are too big cowards to be open about it, sir. 
I Ve had secret partners in my business, who let me 
have money to buy niggers with and shared the 
profits of the trade, who wouldn’t for the w r orld 
have had their names mentioned concerning it. 
Big men in churches, great Christians, talk just 
as you do — act just as you do — only behind the 
curtain. I don’t like that. Let a man be a man, 
or a mouse, sir. The thing ’s right or it ’s wrong. 
Ef it ’s right, be a man and act it out ; ef it ’s 
wrong, why don’t they keep out of our trade ? 
And these very same fellows all the time say, 
slavery is right for niggers, and hold ’em as 
slaves.” 

“I do most decidedly condemn such people,” 
said Mr. St John, “and it is for that very reason 
that I am here openly maintaining my princi- 
ples. I practice as I preach, as every minister 
should. 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 


173 


“God is no respecter of persons; He is the 
father of all the people in that quarter of the 
globe called Africa, as well as he is of all the 
people in Asia, Europe, and America. It is only 
on the ground that the institution of slavery is 
merciful and according to his will, that it can for a 
moment be sustained. If it is not so, it should be 
immediately abandoned. God is eternal, and it 
follows from his eternity that there can be no to- 
morrow with him. All things are now to him. All 
men must repent of sin now . If slave-holding 
is a sin, it, like all other sins must be instantly 
forsaken. If it can be continued till to-morrow, 
according to the will of God, it can be continued 
to eternity according to his will. 

“ All very fine preaching,” said Mr. Bullard — 
“ very fine indeed, sir ; but I tell you — I tell you, 
sir, that nine-tenths of the white people in this 
whole country, don’t believe, and never have 
believed, a word of it, so far as niggers is in it. 
I don’t dispute but what it ’s right enough for 
white people — nor does anybody else that I know 
of; but, sir, when you come to put this here fine 
talking on niggers’ heads, the cap don’t fit ’em, 
sir. That ’s my belief, and so I sell ’em and buy 
'em and make all the cash I ken out of the trade ; 
just because it ’s all right, and as decent a busi- 
ness as selling sheep, or horses or any other trad- 
15 


BELLE SCOTT. 


174 

ing in live stock. I ’ll stick to it too ; the people ’s 
on my side and they are right. 

“ But it ’s no use talkin’ to you about this ; we 
can’t see alike, and what’s the use of disputes 
among gentlemen.” 

Mr. Bullard went away. 

^ I tell you, my dear sir,” said Mr. St, John to 
Williams, “that the slaveholder who first intro- 
duced family worship among his slaves, was a 
benefactor to his country. It has added to the 
respectability of the institution, and placed it on 
its right foundation. He ought to have a monu- 
ment erected to his memory.” 

“ Of brass ?” said Mr. Williams. 

“I care not whether it is of brass or marble,” 
replied Mr. St. John, “ he ought to have a monu- 
ment erected to preserve his name to all posterity. 
And all that I wish to do now is, to tread humbly 
and at a distance in his footsteps, and have family 
worship and the due observance of the Sabbath, 
and all the decencies and duties of Christianity 
carried into the slave-trade. Bely upon it, my 
dear sir, it is for the want of these observances, 
that our trade is disreputable ; that even the men 
who sell to the trader, look upon him with loathing 
and contempt. I have embarked in this trade 
with the view of reforming its abuses. I have 
been laboring for years as a minister in reforming 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 


175 


the abuses of slave-holding, and showing, and 
proving the sanctity of the relation of master and 
servant ; hut so many fellow-laborers are now in 
this part of the vineyard, that I have left it, and 
come in to more neglected places. This, sir, is the 
point of attack, and it should be our point of de- 
fense. Slavery is the corner-stone you know, sir, 
of our republican institutions. The relation of 
master and servant, is ordained of God, and sanc- 
tioned by his Church. The power of truth is 
wonderful. It has compelled many of the churches 
in the free-states, to acknowledge that our institu- 
tions are right. A minister, especially one who 
holds slaves, is not only received as a brother 
among them, but is counted worthy of double 
honor ; of his full share, because he is a minister ; 
and of superadded honor, because he is a slave- 
holder. 

“ Now, I have no wish to labor in this depart- 
ment, unless I can do so as a Christian minister. 
I want to reform the abuses of the slave-trade, 
and to make it as respectable as slave-holding is. 
They are all parts of the same system ; each, a 
link of the same chain ; from the African slave- 
trade to slave-holding, and the domestic slave- 
trade. If one link breaks; the chain, and all 
that depend upon it, fall to the ground. This, I 
repeat, sir, is the point of attack, and must be the 


176 


BELLE SCOTT. 


place of our defense. The slave-buyer, and the 
slave-seller are equals in fact, and must be made 
so in public esteem.” 

“My dear sir,” said Williams, “your argu- 
ments cannot be refuted except upon the ground, 
that the scheme is wholly impracticable. The 
white men who accompany slave cofiles as drivers 
or owners, will never appreciate your motives, 
nor understand your philosophy ; nor will the 
slaves themselves be profited by your labors. 
You do not seem to have thought much of Mr. 
Bullard’s arguments. Have you given any atten- 
tion to his view of the case ? coarsely expressed, 
it is true, sir ; but still, I submit, worthy of some 
attention.” 

“ What ! that negroes are not human beings ? 
that the great masses of the American people, prac- 
tically deny they are immortal ? If the negro is 
immortal, why is he held as property, as the horse 
or the ox ? If he is immortal, why is he bought 
and sold in the market ? If he is immortal, why 
is not his immortal nature provided for? The 
truth is, my dear sir, immortality and slavery are 
wholly incompatible ; you have no more right to 
chain an immortal man, than you have to climb 
into heaven, and put fetters on every angel of 
God. But I take the position that he is not 
immortal ; and in this I am supported by every 


REV. MR. ST. JOHN. 


177 


constitution and every law and every custom of 
the states or of society that treats him either as 
a slave or as an inferior being. All these con- 
stitutions, all such laws, all such customs of states 
or of society, are but Atheism, if slavery is wrong. 
They all rest on the principle that the negroes are 
below the human race, and therefore of right are 
held in bondage to their superiors. Examine the 
matter as you will, you will at last find that this 
is the turning point of the whole controversy, and 
it is useless and cowardly in us to attempt to 
disguise it. Let us meet it as men, and at the 
very point upon which the controversy does turn, 
or let us quit our defense. 

“ The Bible, I assure you,” said Mr. St. John, 
“ when critically examined, fully supports the sys- 
tem of slave-holding. Men who are wholly dis- 
interested in supporting that system, in the 
quietness of their closets have, after careful inves- 
tigation, reached this conclusion, and published the 
result of their inquiries for the benefit of the world. 
To suppose them insincere, would be to make them 
as ministers, leading thousands and tens of thou- 
sands of men and women down to hell, when they 
are watchmen on the walls of Sion, and are paid, 
some of them well paid too, for the very purpose 
of teaching them their duty, and pointing them 
to the narrow path that leads to heaven. 


178 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ No, sir, you by your theory, do great injus- 
tice to these worthy persons. They are, I repeat, 
men of great learning, and men too, whose piety 
is attested by all the churches. They differ 
upon many points of theology and religious duty ; 
but agree on this.” 


CHAPTER XXV. 


aaron’s narrative. 

“ It is impossible to describe the feelings of a 
man whose every hope is dead. I had longed for 
freedom, but it was for my child. I had hopes 
of happiness but all were for her. I had looked 
forward to a future, bright in proportion to my 
present darkness, and endured my sufferings, and 
still more, bore the full weight of my wrongs and 
hardships almost with cheerfulness, fully believing 
that when the day dawned at last, every shade 
of our night of sorrows would be chased away. 
But now I had nothing to hope ! and the full 
weight of my sorrows settled down with its moun- 
tain load upon my pained and beating heart. 

“I had worked hard all my life; my limbs 
were stiff with toil ; my hair was gray : my body 
almost worn out — and what was the result of all 
this care and labor ? Here I was in a wild wilder- 
ness, hiding from the face of my fellow-man; 
without food ; without clothes ; without a house to 
shelter me ; without a foot of land ; without cattle 
or horses, or even a dog or cat ; and what I felt 

( 179 ) 


180 


BELLE SCOTT. 


still more keenly, without a coffin for my only 
child, or a cover to shield her body from the dust, 
or a spade even to dig with my own hands her 
little grave. 

66 1 thought, and oh ! how bitter was the 
thought, why it was that God made one man a 
slave, and another man to call himself his master ! 
I almost repined, until better thoughts and better 
feelings came upon me, and then I remembered 
that this life would soon be over, and that another 
and a far longer one would come, when the slave 
and his master would meet on an equal footing 
before the God and Father of all.” 


CHAPTER XXVI. 


aaron’s narrative. 

"I could not bury the body of Lucy, for a 
day even, after I knew she was dead. I still 
took her in my arms, but her kind words, and her 
suffering, patient looks, and the faint voice call- 
ing, ‘ Father,’ were all gone, and she too was 
gone. 

“ I was calm. I knew that suffer as I might, 
I ought not to grieve at a change which had freed 
her from the curse of slavery. The earth, wetted 
by my tears, received her lifeless form, and I 
knew that she had gone where no tyranny could 
crush — no cruelty oppress her. I marked the 
little grave ; at night it was my pillow, in the day- 
time I could not leave it ; I staid close by it, till 
this flood drove me away, to save my life. 

“ Yonder it lies, under the foot of that tall 
poplar tree, just on that little grassy knoll. I 
shall die soon, and oh master! as you have been 
so good to me, let me beg you now, to have my 
poor body buried by the side of Lucy’s, that we 
may rise together in the last day.” 


( 181 ) 


182 


BELLE SCOTT. 


I promised him that I would do so if in my 
power ; and then he resumed his story. 

“ I had now no longer any wish for freedom or 
for life. All that I had loved and lived for on 
earth, was gone. The solitude of the wilderness 
oppressed me. I felt now, for the first time, its 
awful stillness. But for my Bible, my prayers, and 
what I believe is the presence of God, it would 
have killed me. The energy that had borne me 
up now forsook me, and the disease that my 
determination to escape had kept in check, now 
conquered its unresisting victim. In a few days 
I know I shall die ; my cough is almost incessant, 
and my body is racked with pains. Master, in a 
few days more, I shall no longer be a fugitive 
slave but a free man. In a few days more it will 
be no crime to treat me with kindness, and no 
disgrace to greet me as a brother. In a few days 
more I shall be out of the control of the slave 
laws, that have so oppressed me, and under a far 
different system of government. I shall see 
Lucy, and be with her forever, and go in and 
come out with her without trembling, when I 
shall meet any of the inhabitants of the land to 
which I am going.” 

This coughing became almost incessant, and I 
too felt assured that his life was rapidly drawing 
to its close. At his request I took him, leaning 


AARONS NARRATIVE. 


183 


on my arm, to the grave where his Lucy lay. 
The water had now fallen so that we could walk 
there. When we reached it he stood over it for 
a moment in silence, and then lay down on the 
ground with his head resting on the head of her 
little grave, I brought from my tent some 
blankets and pillows, and other necessary comforts, 
and after that we made that place our home. My 
whole time was occupied in reading to him pas- 
sages from his Bible, such as he selected, for the 
whole of it was far more familiar to him than to 


me. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 


HON. JOHN STRONG. 

The honorable John Strong was elected to Con- 
gress many years ago. He was at all times a 
devoted friend of the people, and firmly believed 
that the representative has but to obey the will 
of his constituents. He also believed that a true 
party man, must at all times support the measures 
of his party. It so happened, while he was 
in Congress, that his party were in favor of a 
measure, to which a large majority of his consti- 
tuents were opposed. Here was a conflict of 
principle. The powers at Washington and the 
powers at home could not agree ; and Mr. Strong, 
after due deliberation, professed himself to his 
fellow members “ true as steel, and firm as a rock,” 
and voted. His constituents remonstrated; and 
it was plain to all, that his claims for re-election 
were gone. 

But Mr. Strong got an appointment, a clerkship 
with a salary of fifteen hundred dollars a year, in 
an office in Washington. This consoled him, this 
more than comforted him. In due time, Mrs. 

(184 V 


HON. JOHN STRONG. 


185 


Strong was advised of this, and the honest-hearted 
woman thought the fortunes of the family were 
made and secured for life. Fifteen hundred dol- 
lars a year, to her imagination, seemed an almost 
inexhaustible mine of wealth. Fifteen hundred 
dollars for only one year ! and work but six hours 
a day at that, and live in Washington ! how fortu- 
nate was she that she had married a great man. , 
Mr. Strong, Mrs. Strong, and six little Strongs 
moved to Washington, and lived on in peace till 
another Pharaoh reigned, who knew not Joseph. 
Then things changed : Mr. Strong’s services, and 
his vote were not so highly prized as they had 
been. His talents were now underrated. It 
was even thought that another could perform the 
duties of his place, as well as he. Mr. Strong lost 
his office ; but got another, at seven hundred and 
fifty dollars a year. But his wife, was a “ manag- 
ing woman.” Her first care when she came to 
Washington was, to get into “ genteel society.” 
Her next, to keep in that society. She soon 
found, to use her own phrase, that those who 
owned no negroes, “ were looked down upon ; ” 
and Strong had no rest, till he consented to buy 
a negro. “Let it be a woman,” said Mrs. Strong, 
for reasons she then assigned; and she was 
commissioned to buy one, with their scanty sav- 
ings. But after several inquiries, she found that 


186 


BELLE SCOTT. 


women were high, and therefore made up her 
mind to buy a girl. A poor, sickly girl at last 
was found, and bought at a low price. This girl 
was Patsy. 

Years passed on, and Patsy grew up and was 
married, and the mother of three children ; when 
one evening, after Strong and his wife had 
returned from a party, and were seated by the 
fire, Mrs. Strong said : 

“Well, I have often advised you within the 
last year, to sell her ; but you never will take my 
opinion on anything, till it is too late. I tell 
you the girl is sick, and will die on our hands? 
and be a dead loss to us, of fifteen hundred dol- 
lars. She has never been hearty since the birth 
of her last child, and now she is worse than ever. 
We’ve got to part with her, and the only question 
is, whether we shall get fifteen hundred dollars in 
cash — more money of your own, than you ever 
had at one time, in all your days — or whether we 
shall get nothing at all. Now, make up your 
mind to-night, for the man is to call to-morrow 
for his answer. Come now, John, don’t be foolish, 
take my advice for once in your life. You know, 
when vshe wanted to live in the house on the alley 
with her husband and children, you opposed it 
till I reasoned you out of it ; and then when they 
got into that house, we ’ve had no expense with 


HON. JOHN STRONG. 


187 


the family. Her husband is a free negro, and 
gets good wages, and has nothing else to do 
with his money, but to take care of his wife and 
children” 

“But,” said Strong, “what will become of the 
children, if we sell her — of her babe ; they are too 
young, to take care of themselves ; and you have 
no time to see after them properly ? ” 

“Well now, it does seem to me,” said his wife, 
“ that you have not one particle of sense ; I mean 
of course, common sense. I know you have states- 
man talents enough to be President. Cannot the 
girls take care of the baby? and has not Jim 
always taken care of his family? Ain’t he a 
Christian, and do you think he will let them 
suffer, because their mother is gone ? ” 

“ But, my dear,” said Mr. Strong, “ is not that 
an imposition on Jim ? ” 

“ How so ?” said Mrs. Strong : “ is it an imposi- 
tion on you, that you have to take care of your 
children ? Ain’t he their father, and oughtn’t he 
to take care of ’em ? Won’t it afford him pleasure 
to do so ? What else has he to do with all the 
money he gets ? He is a good carpenter, and I 
do believe, that at the end of the year he lays up 
more money than you do ; or he would do so, if 
he did not spend it on his family.” 


188 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“I don’t want to sell the girl; she is a good 
girl and has been a faithful servant.” 

“But how, in this world, can we afford to lose 
fifteen hundred dollars ? You ’ll drive me dis- 
tracted : it’s no use to reason with you, and never 
was. We ’ll all be in the poor-house in six months, 
and that too when the girls need part of the 
money to prepare for their sister’s wedding. 
They must go to Martha’s wedding, and they can- 
not do so unless great additions are made to their 
wardrobe. It will not be treating Mr. Leathers 
respectfully, if they either stay away altogether 
or go there among strangers in such a plight that 
they will not be fit to be seen. And as for 
Martha, she is so close that she won’t let them 
have a single cent. You know that.” 

“Well, Eliza,” said Mr. Strong, “it is use- 
less to attempt to answer your arguments. I 
leave the whole responsibility of this matter 
with you. I think myself that Patsy’s health 
will be improved if she is taken to a warmer 
climate. It may prolong her life.” 

Jim had often been told by Mr. Strong and 
Mrs. Strong and all the young Strongs that he 
was highly favored by being allowed to visit, and 
even to live with his wife and children ; and from 
time to time he was reminded that Mr. Hunt and 
Mr, Wilson, and other gentlemen in the city, did 


JIM WISE. 


189 


not allow any free colored persons to visit their 
servants. Poor Jim felt grateful, very grateful 
for the blessings conferred upon him by the 
Strongs, and was willing and ready at all times to 
do such little services as lay in his power for so 
kind a family. He cut their wood and put in 
their coal ; blacked Mr. Strong’s boots, and as the 
young ladies grew up he carried parcels for them 
to different parts of the city, and in a thousand 
ways made himself useful to the family. 

On Monday night after this conversation occur- 
red, Jim was requested to go on an errand for 
Mr. Strong, down near the long bridge across 
the Potomac ; and while he was gone the traders 
came and carried off his wife. 

He returned and reported himself to Mr. 
Strong, and then making an humble bow went 
out by the back door to his house. As he ap- 
proached he was surprised to find it all dark. 
He laid his hand upon the latch and listened for 
a moment, but all was still. He trembled as he 
went in and stood for an instant silent in the 
middle of the room. He called and a child’s 
voice from under the bed, sobbing and low, said 
“ Father, is that you ?” 

“ Yes, Pauline, it ’s me.” His children rushed 
out and clung to him. 

“ Where is your mother, Harry ?” 

16 


190 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ Oh, father ! men’s come, and hit her hard, and 
put his hand over her mouth, and tied her, and 
took her away, and hurt little sister too. They 
corned just after you went away: Mr. Strong 
corned with ’em ; and mother’s gone.” 

Jim groaned — looked hastily in the cradle, 
and finding his youngest child there, sat down and 
took his little girl and hoy upon his knees. He 
spoke not a word ; no tears came to relieve his 
heart. There he sat in the dark and silent room, 
till both his little ones had sobbed themselves 
asleep upon his breast. He then put them in their 
bed, and sat down again ; sat again in the dark, 
silent room, till the town clock struck twelve, and 
Jim aroused himself, and prepared to go to bed. 
He walked a step or two, and fell prostrate on the 
floor. A chill as of death, passed over his whole 
body. Cold sweat stood in great drops upon his 
forehead. His limbs were stiff and motionless; 
but his mind was more active than it had ever 
been before. His whole life had been one of 
sorrow and suffering ; and all these sorrows, were 
now poured into his swollen heart, in one bitter, 
burning agony. What had he done more than 
others, that he should be thus singled out from 
among men, and made to suffer as man had never 
suffered before ? All around him were men ; some 
with high honors, others with wealth, and nearly 


JIM WISE. 


191 


all with abundant sources of comfort and happi- 
ness ; even the poorest, were rich in the love of 
their wives and children ; but he had no wife now, 
and his children were slaves. Their mother’s fate 
awaited them, and one by one, they too would be 
sold. He was about to pray, and then he thought 
that God was no friend of his, and he would not 
pray to him. At last the fountain of his tears 
was opened, and his heart softened, and then he 
prayed — prayed in agony for his wife, for his 
children, for those who had sold her, for those 
who had bought her, and for those who made 
and sustained the laws under which she had been 
sold. A calm, as of oil upon troubled waters, 
soothed his heart; and he rested his throbbing 
head upon the bed, by the side of which he knelt. 
Was he asleep ? or had nature given way, under 
the shock he had sustained ? He was insensible 
for a time, and was then aroused by a soft hand 
passing over his forehead, and wiping the tears 
from his cheeks. He looked up ; were those white 
wings that fanned him, the wings of an angel 
sent from God to strengthen him? were those 
words that fell like soft and delicious music upon 
his soul, the whisperings of the angel ? and those 
hopes that soothed his heart, as they bade him be 
of good cheer, assuring him that his brother 
mechanics, and brother men would not suffer his 


192 


BELLE SCOTT. 


little ones to remain much longer slaves, but would 
soon arouse, and speak, and write, and preach, and 
vote, and pray for God and freedom ; were they 
the delusions of a fevered brain, or — were they 
sober facts ? 

On that night, the flag on the dome of the 
Capitol waved in the wind, and displayed grace- 
fully its stars and stripes as it spread with each 
passing breeze, and the angel that had borne that 
flag through the stormy battles of the revolution, 
stood by the side of it grasping its staff in his 
right hand, while in his left he held a golden 
censer filled with the tears, and groans, and 
prayers of poor Jim ; which he was carrying to 
the Lamb of God. 

Was it for this, that he had borne that flag 
amid the din, and dust, and shout, and uproar, 
and whirlwind of battle, at Bunker Hill, at Sara- 
toga, at Yorktown and the Cowpens? Was it 
for this; when its folds were dripping with the 
warm blood of the heroes who fell beneath it, and 
it was overborne and trodden in the dishonored 
dust by superior power, that he had raised it, and 
cheered with new hopes the failing hands of those 
who bore it ; till at last, Victory placed her laurel 
crown upon it, and Peace folded it as a robe about 
her, and blessed it forever? The angel looked 
upon the censer filled with the agony and prayers 


JIM WISE. 


193 


of poor Jim ; and then upon the flag, and burying 
his face in its sacred folds, wet it with his tears, 
and ascended to Heaven. 

On the next Thursday night, all was life and 
gayety at Mr. Strong’s. A new piano stood in 
the parlor ; new Brussels’ carpet covered the floor, 
and the three Miss Strongs, each in a new satin 
dress with lace collars and sleeves, received then- 
guests. The party was, as all said, really a grand 
one. Members of Congress were there ; a Secre- 
tary and two Judges ; four attaches of the French 
and Prussian embassies, with close-fitting coats 
and elegant moustaches, were attentive to the 
hostess and her lovely daughters. Mr. Strong 
was happy. No one could have been more cordial 
or more kind. He went from room to room — 
complimented the young ladies on their fine 
dancing; their mothers on their youthful looks, 
and then in half a minute was seated at a card- 
table in a back room, talking of the good old 
times when he was in Congress, to General Bungo, 
the new member from Louisiana. Mrs. Strong was 
happy; the day had at last come, when their 
family was duly appreciated. The guests retired ; 
the lamps were all put out save one ; and Mrs. 
Strong said to her husband : “Did I not tell you to 
leave these things to me ? and you did so ; and 
now I hope you see that you have a wife ? ” 


194 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ Yes,” said Strong, “ Eliza, I am proud of you ; 
you are indeed a helpmate and a treasure.” 

At eleven o’clock the next day, many persons 
who were at the party were seen slowly walking up 
the steps of the Capitol. They took their seats in 
their respective houses and talked of tariffs and 
banks, and the improvement of rivers and harbors ; 
of the Constitution and its “ compromises ” and 
guarantees ; of the greatness of our country and 
the advance of liberty throughout the world. But 
he who ventured to say that slave-holding is a 
sin, was looked upon by nearly all of them as a 
fanatic or a simpleton — one to be contemned or 
despised. Did they represent the people of the 
United States? Will they so represent them 
forever ? 

“ I saw you at the party, last night,” said Mr. 
West, a young clerk in the Treasury department 
to Mr. Irwin, also a clerk in the same department, 
as they met in their office early in the morning. 
u I hope you had a pleasant time.” 

“ It was very pleasant indeed, while I was there ; 
but when I went home the colored man who has 
the care of my room, told me that Mr. Strong, 
only last Monday night, sold his cook Patsy 
to Weston the trader, and ever since I heard 
that, I have a horrible taste of human blood on 
my teeth. I cannot wash it off. I cannot get 


JIM WISE. 


195 


rid of it. Every drop of coffee or wine that I 
drank and every particle of cake or food that I 
ate seems now to me to have been mixed with 
and steeped and soaked in that woman’s blood. 
Bah ! it makes me sick. I feel as if I had been 
at a feast of cannibals.” 

"You surprise me/’ said Mr. West; "you, a 
Kentuckian, to entertain such sentiments ! Do 
you not know that if you utter them you will lose 
your office and your position in society? It is 
downright Abolitionism.” 

" Bah ! the taste of that woman’s blood is on 
every tooth in my head,” said Mr. Irwin ; can 
you tell me how to get rid of it ? I would not live 
a week with such a horrible feeling over me, as I 
have this morning, for all the offices together that 
the government can give. I am sick.” 

“ But it is your own fault that you are sick ; you 
alone are to blame for it. Judges of the Supreme 
court were there, and they are not sick ; members 
of Congress were there — they are not sick ; even 
clergymen were there, and not one of them is sick. 
It must be your own fault that you have such 
queer tastes. You will be in favor of abolishing 
slavery in this District before long.” 

"I am in favor of it now,” said Mr. Irwin. "It 
is of no benefit to any people to aid them in sin.” 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 


aaron’s death. 

On the second day after they went to the 
grave, the sun rose beautifully bright ; a few clouds 
were driven by the wind across the face of the 
sky ; a breeze murmured through the leaves, and 
all was as balmy as a day in early spring. But 
Aaron was suffering intensely. He asked Mr. 
Reed to read one more passage in the Bible, and 
told him the place. Mr. Reed turned to it, and 
his eyes so filled with tears while he read, that he 
could hardly do so. It was : “ The Lord hear 
thee in the day of trouble. The name of the God 
of Israel defend thee ; send thee help from the 
sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion.” 

Aaron then gave him his Bible. Mr. Reed 
thanked him for the present, and has ever since 
kept it as a sacred treasure. He looked over its 
pages and saw some writing on the blank leaves. 
Aaron told him he wrote it at his wife’s request. 
She had been charged with murdering a child, of 
which she was innocent, and what he wrote was 
her statement of the matter. It covered all the 
( 196 ) 


aaron’s death. 


197 

blank loaves of the book, and was so badly written 
and so blotted that he could not read enough of 
it to understand it. 

About noon of that day Aaron seemed to be 
much better ; indeed Mr. Reed thought he would 
recover. He still had fever but his face was calm, 
and bore but few traces of pain. He talked of 
Lucy, and of the Bible, and of freedom, and of 
God and his hopes of heaven. He continually 
exhorted Mr. Reed to prepare for what he called 
life in earnest. He said, he forgave all who had 
wronged him ; even those who had murdered his 
child. After awhile his agony returned. Then 
after a struggle he slept, — he slept, — 

“ And the sunshine of heaven burst bright on his waking, 

And the song that he heard, was the seraphim’s song.” 

The hunter went to his tent, and brought with 
him a spade, and some boards and clothing ; with 
these he prepared the body of Aaron for the grave 
which he dug. He laid his body out, close by 
the side of Lucy’s grave ; and then, after taking 
some refreshment, prepared himself to pass the 
night as a watcher, by the corpse. He sat down 
on the trunk of a fallen tree with his back resting 
against a projecting limb, and there, wrapped up 
in his cloak by the side of a small fire, passed, 
what to him was one of the most serious and 
eventful nights of his life. 


198 


BELLE SCOTT. 


As the cold, stiff body of Aaron, dressed in 
white, was lying upon the ground, with his face 
toward the sunrise, the night dews gathered 
thickly over it, and a bright and beautiful star 
came out from heaven and looked down upon it, 
and trembled as it looked, and then passed on 
bearing the story of his wrongs to eternity. 
Another and another star came out, and each 
looked down on the corpse, as with the eye of an 
archangel, and trembled and went on its course, 
adding the story of Aaron’s sorrows to its hoarded 
centuries of knowledge. Our hunter thought, 
these stars will all fade away into endless night, 
and be forgotten ; but for all the ages and for 
eternity, Aaron will live on and on, and ever and 
ever on, full of happiness and love. 

And how great ! how wonderful was the change 
to Aaron ! But yesterday, the basest white man 
in the land thought himself his superior, and could 
treat him with scorn ; to-day, as he mingled with 
the hosts of heaven, angels and archangels bowed 
with reverence, as they met him and greeted him 
as a brother. But yesterday a fugitive slave ! 
to-day a king and priest unto God ! 

Aaron is immortal, and the hunter therefore is 
immortal. He always thought so, but the thought 
was vague, and dim, and misty ; now he grasped 
the truth, as a man grasps a great cable in his 


THE NIGHT WATCH. 


199 


hand. Why then struggle for immortality on 
earth ? What do Milton, and Shakspeare, and 
Goethe care now that men are reading and prais- 
ing their works? The good deeds which men 
may leave behind them, like the long, warm, 
lingering glow of a summer sunset, are all the 
works that even the best can look back upon 
with interest, after they have passed into the 
other life. 

All men are immortal, and therefore all men 
are equal. And the petty inequalities of the 
passing hour, are but as when a great host of 
travelers is passing along an undulating road ; 
one for the moment may be on ground higher 
than his fellows, but he passes over it and is gone ; 
another, and another take his place, and they too 
pass on. 

Man is immortal, and this great fact lifts the 
rich man above his wealth, and the king above 
his throne, and the slave above his fetters, and 
places all alike on the equal platform of MAN. 
Wealth or position, are but the garments of a 
day ; whether they are on or off, the man remains. 

Our hunter looked at the body of Aaron, and 
remembered how often that body had been sold : 
here yet lay the same flesh, and bones, and heart, 
and brain ; who would buy it now ? 

He renewed his fire, looked around him at the 


200 


BELLE SCOTT. 


woods, and at the slowly moving water, and 
wrapping his cloak about him, took his seat again 
and was soon asleep. 

He dreamed that he was in some island in the 
Pacific ocean, and saw a great crowd of savages 
with their faces painted in streaks of red and 
black, and quills in their hair, dancing around na 
enemy slain in war ; and then they cut his body 
into small pieces and prepared it for food. He 
saw the priests of their religion stand over the 
loathsome repa:t and bless the banquet. 

The scene changed — he was in a great city, and 
passing through a market-place crowded with 
people : he saw a woman with a tub covered 
with a white cloth, on a stall. What have you 
for sale, my good woman? She withdrew the 
cloth, and showed him human feet ; he passed to 
the next. “ What have you for sale ?” a cloth was 
removed, and he saw a tub filled with human 
hands; the hands of little children, and of grown 
up men and women ; he went to the next, and 
was shown human hearts, some almost warm with 
life ; he went on to the next, and a man took the 
cover from a hogshead, and showed it full of 
ghastly human heads ; he passed on to the next, 
the woman had no tub upon her stall, nothing but 
a napkin wrapped up and lying before her. “ And 
what have you for sale?” he inquired. She 


THE DREAM. 


201 


unfolded the napkin, and showed him a jewel 
brighter than the morning-star, and spotted all 
oyer with blood. “ What is that, good woman ?” 
She drew his ear close to her and whispered, “ It 
is a human soul, and these spots on it, are the 
blood of Christ.” He passed on to the next stall, 
a tall man stood at it, and a beautiful young man 
by his side. “ What do you sell here ? ” “ This 

boy is for sale, I will take a thousand dollars for 
him. The others that you have just seen, sell 
only the dead ; I sell the living.” 

“Do you sell his soul? ” he inquired. 

“ Certainly I do. I sell you the whole living 
human being, as he now stands before you, from 
the crown of his head, to the soles of his feet. 
Sell his soul ! of what use would his body be to 
any purchaser, without his soul ? His body is 
but the covering of his soul : the thinking, talk- 
ing, working intelligence, are all that give him 
greater value in our market than a horse. Sell 
the soul ! what else is there for sale here ? ” 

“ I will neither buy nor sell men’s souls “ said 
Edgar, “ Christ has purchased all of them with 
his own blood, and they belong to him.” 

“Ha ! ha!” shrieked the whole crowd of sellers, 
at the mention of that name, “We sell the souls 
of the slaves, and buy the souls of the pur- 


202 


BELLE SCOTT. 


chasers. Ha ! ha !” And then in the shape of 
fiends they vanished from his sight. 

He awoke; a screech-owl was seated on the 
limb over his head, shrieking Ha ! ha ! 

He got down from his seat and renewed his fire, 
and walked about thinking all the while of his 
strange dream. “Is our state of civilization so 
low that some grave Senators whom the world 
delights to honor, are in truth but little in 
advance of the South-sea savage, with a fish-bone 
stuck through the cartilage of his nose, and 
eagles’ feathers in his uncombed hair, and his face 
bedaubed with streaks of black and red paint ? 
Is this the light in which posterity will view 
them : would some ministers too bless a cannibal 
feast ? Where is the essential difference between 
the man who eats human flesh, and the one who 
buys and sells it ? and who buys and sells the 
souls of his fellow-men, all spotted with the blood 
of their Redeemer ?” He was young and inex- 
perienced, and could see no difference. And he 
thought too, “ Christianity has abolished canni- 
balism in many islands of the South-sea, within 
a few years after the Gospel was preached to their 
inhabitants. Why has it not abolished the canni- 
balism of the United States ? the selling of men, 
and women, and children in public markets, and 


THE NIGHT WATCH. 


203 


in open day ? “ The reason may be,” he said, 

“that savages were ignorant and poor, and the 
truth was preached fearlessly to them, while the 
slave dealers are rich and some of them intelligent, 
and awe the preachers into silence and submis- 
sion .” 

With this dream and these thoughts the night 
wore away so rapidly, that he was surprised when 
the gray dawn of the morning broke upon him. 
He placed Aaron’s body in the grave and with- 
drew to his tent. 

He hurried his preparations for departure, set 
fire to the pile of brushwood, and the signal soon 
brought the men and boat to take him away. 
His success in hunting fully answered his highest 
hopes. The men took down his tent, and carried 
whatever was worth taking care of to the boat* 
When all was ready, he told them to wait for him 
a few minutes. He then made his last visit to the 
graves of Aaron and Lucy. The hot sunshine 
rested upon them, and the spider had woven her 
web over them. All was still as in the night — 
all was silent as the graves before him. He felt 
as if a friend had left him, but not forever — Oh 
no ! not forever ! 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


THE HUNTER. 

Edgar found Mr. Talbot still at the wood-yard, 
with the same cordial greeting, and frank hospi- 
tality, and eager inquiry for news. He told 
Edgar that he could get nearly as good a price 
for his venison and other game from some trading 
boat, as at New Orleans. He did not want to 
return to that place, because he had deliberately 
made up his mind never to set up another type in 
any printing-office that sustained or apologized for 
the slavery of man . 

In a few hours a boat on its passage to New 
Orleans, stopped at the woodyard, and Edgar 
sold out his whole stock of game and hunting- 
gear to the clerk of the boat. 

Soon afterward it began to rain ; the hours hung 
heavily upon him until about nine o’clock at 
night, when he was cheered by seeing the lights, 
and hearing the sounds of a boat ascending the 
river. He held up a blazing torch, the bell of 
the boat rang out her answer to his signal, and in 
a few moments after taking leave of his host, he 

( 204 ) 


THE STEAMBOAT, 


205 


was on board. It was raining, and cold, and 
dark, when he got on the boat, and the change 
of scene was like passing into a fairy land. The 
boat was gorgeous as the palace of an eastern 
prince, blazing with lights, and decorated with 
vases of fresh flowers. Mirth and music, and a 
party of young people dancing, filled the cabin. 
Dazzled and half stunned, Edgar stood alone in 
the crowd looking upon the scene. Before he 
recovered from his surprise, a vision so full of 
grace and beauty swam before his sight, that his 
senses reeled as he gazed at the lovely object. 

It was a girl in the full, ripe bloom of early 
womanhood, taller and larger than women gener- 
ally are, with clear dark skin and exquisitely 
chiseled Grecian features, large lustrous black 
eyes that swam in liquid tenderness; her half- 
parted lips disclosed a set of teeth, even, and 
white as ivory. She stood at the entrance of the 
ladies’ cabin, apart from the dancers, with her 
right foot extended and gently leaning as she 
looked at them. Her only ornament, a half- 
blown moss-rose carelessly placed in her hair, 
black as the raven’s wing ; her air of gentleness 
and purity, filled the atmosphere around her; 
sorrow and meek resignation spread over her oval 
face, and told too plainly that her heart was filled 
with grief. 


206 


BELLE SCOTT. 


While he was almost involuntarily gazing at 
her, a gentleman touched his elbow. 

“ Mr. Reed, I believe ! I have not seen you on 
the boat before ; when did you get on ? ” 

“ Oh, Mr. Ives ! I am glad to meet you. I got 
on at the wood-yard, not ten minutes ago. I 
have been two weeks on a hunting excursion, and 
have seen the face of but one white person 
during that whole time, until I came on the boat. 
I am on my way to Pittsburgh.” 

“ I am very glad of it, I shall have your com- 
pany as far as we go ; but we leave at Guyandotte, 
and will go across the state of Virginia to Rich- 
mond.” 

“Who is that beautiful young lady standing 
just in the shade of the door, at the entrance of 
the ladies’ cabin ? ” 

“ That lady near the door, in a dove-colored 
silk dress with flounces, is Miss Mary Scott, 
sir.” 

“No,” said Edgar, “she is not the lady; I 
mean the one near her, plainly dressed in black 
silk. She is wonderfully beautiful.” 

“ Oh, that is Belle ! Miss Scott’s attendant.” 

“What is her name ? ” said Mr. Reed. 

“ Of course, Scott ; as she is Mr. Scott’s servant, 
she bears the name of her master.” 

“ She a servant ! Mr. Scott her master ! ” said 


THE STEAMBOAT. 207 

Mr. Reed : “ Is there not a striking resemblance 
between her and Miss Mary Scott ? ” 

“ I have never seen any,” said Mr. Ives drily, 
“ and I have been acquainted with both of them 
since they were children. Miss Mary Scott has 
blue eyes and soft, brown hair ; she is small. Belle 
has black eyes and black hair, and is large. Both 
have fine features, it is true, but they are very 
greatly unlike each other.” 

“It is no uncommon thing,” said a gentleman 
who was standing by them, “ for a master to have 
servants that greatly resemble his own children.” 

“It is not,” said Mr. Ives, “but in this 
instance I have never observed any such like- 
ness.” 

“I saw it but for an instant,” said Edgar, “and 
now upon looking again, I can see nothing of it. 
It was an instant flash, and is gone.” 

“You seem to think Belle beautiful,” said Mr. 
Ives. “She is so, but you have not seen a 
woman for two weeks till now, and of course they 
appear to better advantage than if you had not 
been so long deprived of their society.” 

The party danced on long after Edgar had 
retired to his stateroom and was asleep. 

The next morning a group that formed a circle 
around a man in the cabin, were listening to his 
remarks; some with half suppressed pleasure; 


208 


BELLE SCOTT. 


others, with surprise at his boldness, and others, 
with anger. 

Mr. Ives and Edgar went forward, to see and 
hear the cause of the excitement. 

A middle-aged and intelligent looking man was 
standing in the midst of the crowd, the object of 
their attention. 

“I tell you,” said a gentleman to him: “it 
will not do to talk so here ; you may think as 
you please, but it is, I assure you, really unsafe to 
express such thoughts.” 

The man raised himself to his utmost height, 
and fixing his eyes, glowing like coals of fire, upon 
the person who addressed him, slowly said in a 
clear, firm voice, “I am a free man. The right 
of free speech, is an inalienable and (speaking the 
words with strong emphasis,) an unquestionable 
right. I can no more surrender it, than I can 
annihilate my own soul. If my right of free 
speech conflicts with your slavery, one or the 
other of them must give way; and as I claim 
that my right is absolute, you have but one 
thing to do — take your slavery out of the way.” 

“Yes,” said the first speaker, “but the slaves 
are our property, and such language as you are 
using, endangers our rights to what lawfully 
belongs to us. You have no more right to place 
our property or our safety at hazard, than we 


FREEDOM OF SPEECH. 209 

have to place yours. But go on, we ’ll hear you 
out, and see what you have to say.” 

“ I have but one thing to say,” said the man, 
speaking calmly and slowly, “and it is this; 
Jesus Christ has said, ‘ whatsoever ye do to one 
of the least of these my disciples, ye do to me.’ 
He has promised on the one hand, that he who 
gives to one of them a cup of water, shall not 
lose his reward ; and on the other, he has threat- 
ened that whosoever shall offend one of them, 
it were better for him that a millstone were 
hanged about his neck and he were cast into the 
sea. 

“ He has established it as a principle of his 
government, that his disciples, and especially 
those of them who are poor, ignorant, needy, or 
in persecution or distress, shall stand as his 
representatives — as you treat them you treat him ; 
and as it would be a sin, a blasphemy to make 
Jesus Christ a slave, it is also a sin to make 
slaves of his poor disciples.” 

The gentleman then made his way through 
the crowd, and went to his stateroom. 

Mr. Scott, who was present, walked quickly 
away. Others of the crowd sat down at a table, 
and commenced playing cards, Edgar was stand- 
ing by the side of Mr. Ives while this litle scene 
was passing, and as he turned to say something 


210 


BELLE SCOTT. 

to him, saw that his face was pale, and his brow 
shadowed with deep thought. 

“ What is the matter, sir ? ” said Edgar. “ Are 
you unwell ? ” 

“ Oh no, sir, not at all ! but that thought we 
have just heard, has startled me. It is, to me at 
least, a new view of the subject.” 

They parted ; Mr. Ives went into the ladies’ 
cabin — Edgar, to another part of the boat. 

About the middle of the afternoon, Edgar saw 
Mr. Ives standing thoughtfully alone. He rallied 
him upon his gravity. Mr. Ives replied, “ Indeed 
I am serious ; I cannot, even if I wished to do so, 
get rid of the thought we heard this morning. It 
haunts me like an accompanying spirit. I have 
been examining it, and tracing it in its details 
and results. I have always thought that princi- 
ple in the government of our Saviour, one of the 
clearest proofs of his supernatural authority and 
goodness, that the whole narrative of his life 
affords us. If I entertained a doubt of the truth 
of the Christian religion, this principle would 
remove that doubt.” 

“ Why so ? ” said Mr. Heed. 

“ It was,” said Mr. Ives, “ comparatively of but 
little value to the disciples who lived with him. 
As they became identified with him, their suffer- 
ings increased. And so it continued, for a century 


MR. IVES. 


211 


and more after his death. He must then have 
looked far into the future. He knew that his 
person would be venerated and intensely loved. 
He intended to transfer this veneration to his 
disciples, as a protection and blessing. This 
piercing and accurate foreknowledge, proves him 
divine; and this protection for his disciples, 
proves him infinitely good. By this provision, he 
has girdled the whole earth with a blessing, that 
rests, at all times, upon the most needy and the 
most deserving.” 

“ But what,” said Mr. Heed, “ is there new in 
this matter, that it should excite you ? I have 
read it a hundred times, and you seem to be 
familiar with it.” 

a There is nothing novel in the principle ; it is 
as old as Christianity, and has been held as a 
doctrine by all churches, from the beginning of the 
Christian system to the present time. However 
much men may have differed upon the doctrines 
of Christianity, there never has been, so far as I 
have heard, any difference whatever upon this 
subject. It is its application to the negro race, 
that has startled me. I have lived with persons 
of that. race all my life, and have read from infancy 
this Testament, and yet until this day, the 
thought has never occurred to me that this great 
principle is applicable to them.” 


212 


BELLE SCOTT. 


Mr. Bridgeman, the gentleman who had made 
the remark, now came in view. " Let us,” said 
Mr. Reed, "enter into conversation with him, 
perhaps he will startle you again, by some other 
new application of an old truth.” 

They went to him, and alluded to what he had 
said in the morning. "I have,” he replied,” no 
wish to annoy any one, by conversation on a 
subject which may be disagreeable. My right of 
free speech was questioned, and I determined to 
assert it at the very time and place, when it was 
disputed. I have said all that I wish to say on 
that subject.” 

"You have said a great deal,” said Mr. Ives. 

Mr. Bridgeman looked at him calmly and said : 
" Yes ; I felt an impulse to say it, that I thought 
wrong to resist ; and I would have said it, even 
if I had been thrown into the river the next 
moment. I hope it will be received in the same 
spirit in which it was made.” 

Mr. Bridgeman and Mr. Ives looked at each 
other steadily, after he had spoken, and Ives 
again said : " You have said a great deal sir. I 
do not as yet fully comprehend it; it cannot 
be done in a day; but simple as the thought 
appears, it may change and color my whole future 
life” 

Mr. Bridgeman said: "Yes, it may do more 


MR. IVES. 


213 

than that ; it may color and control your eternal 
life.” 

The boat rapidly ascended the river. One 
day Mr. Heed passed by Mr. Ives, who was 
sitting at a table in the cabin, with a pen in his 
hand, and paper on which he had been writing 
lying before him. 

“I see sir,” said Mr. Heed to him, “that you 
give yourself but little rest, even when you are 
traveling.” 

“I did not mean to tax my brain with much 
thought,” replied Mr. Ives ; “ but the remark made 
by the gentleman several days ago, has been so 
strongly impressed upon my mind, that I cannot 
avoid tracing out upon paper, the principle and 
its application to the colored race. It seems to 
me, that truth alone, has sufficient power to over- 
throw the whole system of American slavery.” 

“ Slavery has existed in this country two 
hundred years, and it has not yet done so,” 
replied Mr. Reed. 

“ True, but the truths of Christianity have not 
been applied to slavery in the two hundred years, 
otherwise it could not have withstood their power,” 
said Mr. Ives. 

One afternoon, Mr. Heed saw Mr. Ives standing 
on the side of the boat next to the Ohio shore, and 
approached him. lie did not observe until he 
18 


214 


BELLE SCOTT. 


got near him, that two ladies were with him, 
Miss Mary Scott and Belle. 

“ That is the State of Ohio,” said Mary to Mr. 
Ives, and then turning to Belle she said, “you 
know, of course, that it is a free state.” 

“ I know that Ohio is a free state, hut did not 
know until now, that the land I am looking at, is 
the State of Ohio.” 

She gave one long, lingering look, at the land 
before her. Her eyes filled with tears, and to 
conceal them she went into the cabin. 


CHAPTER XXX. 


MR. AND MRS. LEATHERS. 

Two months after the wedding of Bennett 
Leathers, Colonel Moore, a venerable gentleman 
long a citizen of Willoughby, about ten o’clock in 
the morning, cane in hand, was seen walking 
composedly up the avenue that led to the man- 
sion of Mrs. Tullis, now Mrs. Leathers. His 
portly person was well dressed, and on his face 
was a calm benevolent smile. He was, as he 
deserved to be, at peace with himself and with all 
the world. 

Mrs. Leathers had been his tenant since the 
death of Mr. Tullis. Three days before, another 
year’s rent (eight hundred dollars) became due ; 
but with that delicate respect which becomes a 
gentleman, Colonel Moore had deferred his call, to 
avoid even the appearance of haste. 

The shutters in the front of the house were 
closed, but although the Colonel observed it, it 
did not attract his especial attention. It was 
early, quite early, and as Mr. Leathers was not 
yet in business, there was no necessity for rising 

( 215 ) 


216 


BELLE SCOTT. 


sooner. His wife too was rich ; time therefore was 
of less value to him than it is to some others less 
fortunate in life. 

He rang the bell, and was surprised to find 
that the noise was so loud, from the very gentle 
pull he gave it. 

He paused, and then turning round, buttoned 
his coat tighter around his neck, took off his hat 
and smoothed it with his glove. 

No one came. 

He rang again, gently as he could, but again 
the sound was much louder than he intended to 
make. 

He stood now longer than before, and looked 
upon that leafless shrubbery in the lawn. 

Still all was silent. 

He rang again, harder than before, and then 
stood for a moment ; then he went out upon the 
pavement before the door. The calm, benevolent 
look had left his face. His cane was tucked 
under his arm. Upon looking around, he saw 
the shutter of a window in the second story of the 
adjoining house partly opened, and a female’s face 
looking out. 

He raised his eyes and hat to the lady. “ Your 
neighbors are late risers, madam ? ” 

(( I do not know that sir, I think they are all 
awake.” 


MR. AND MRS. LEATHERS. 217 

“ I have rung the bell three times, madam, and 
no person has yet answered my call.” 

“ A very good reason for that, sir, they have 
all moved away.” 

“ Moved, madam ! moved away ! ” said Colonel 
Moore, striking the end of his cane upon the 
pavement. “ They gave me no notice of their in- 
tention to do so. When did they move, madam ?” 

“ I really don’t know sir. They were here a 
week ago to-morrow, I am sure ; the next day the 
house was still, and I have not seen them since.” 

“ What, madam ! run away ? ” 

"I can’t say that, sir. I have told you all 
that I know.” 

“I’ll follow them to the ends of the earth!” 
striking the end of his cane hard on the pavement. 

“ I think, sir, that is as good a place as any 
other, to search for them.” 

“ Did you observe them making any prepara- 
tions to go offj madam ? ” 

“ Yes, sir. They were sending their fine furni- 
ture out by the alley to a vessel at the wharf, for 
four or five days before they went away.” 

“What induced them to go, madam? Mrs. 
Leathers had a large fortune.” 

“I do not know, sir. I heard Mr. Leathers 
say, it was wrong for a gentleman to squander 
his wife’s fortune, in payment of her debts : and 


218 


BELLE SCOTT. 


they have been a good deal troubled with bills 
lately” 

And now, good reader, we ask you to mark with 
what frankness we state this fault of Mr. Leathers. 
Biographers sometimes draw a vail over blemishes 
in the conduct of their heroes : but this we shall 
not do. The practice is a bad one. The reader 
cannot mark the growth of the inner life of the 
person whose character he may be carefully study- 
ing; he cannot note as he should, the upward or 
downward course, unless he is furnished, at least, 
with the leading facts, that are steps upon the 
ladder of ascent or descent. But as we have 
stated this fact, it is but fair to Mr. Leathers and 
his friends, that we state also the circumstances 
that accompanied it. 

A month had hardly passed after his marriage, 
before Mr. Leathers was called to the door to re- 
ceive a bill. Bills from the jeweler ; bills from the 
milliner ; bills from half-a-dozen dressmakers ; bills 
from the grocer ; bills from the confectioner ; bills 
from the baker ; bills from the dentist ; bills from 
the doctor ; bills from the lawyer ; bills for pew 
rent; for water-rent; from everybody, and for 
everything. 

Mr. Leathers, of course, knew nothing about 
them. They were referred to his wife, and that 
amiable lady declared that each one of them was 


MR. AND MRS. LEATHERS. 


219 


wrong ; some of them she said, were for articles 
that she had never ordered, others for articles she 
had ordered, but never received ; some, she said, 
she had paid ; others were too high — none too low. 

It seemed as if every man in Willoughby was 
dishonestly trying to ruin Mrs. Leathers. 

When the first bills came, Mr. Leathers paid 
them promptly, and said to his wife, “ It’s better — 
much better to do so, my dear, than to be annoyed 
with these kind of people.” The lady was silent, 
but not satisfied. The payment of one bill, how- 
ever, seemed to be as one blow upon a hornet’s 
nest. The whole swarm was out buzzing about 
him and stinging him. He continued to pay, till 
one day Mrs. Leathers gently remarked, “It is 
much easier to waste money, my dear, than to 
earn it.” 

“ A very profound observation, my dear, and it 
does great credit to your intellect,” said Mr. 
Leathers. “ Indeed it does. But what shall I 
do ? they will warrant me if I don’t pay. ” 

“ Let them warrant,” said Mrs. Leathers. And 
the warrants came thick and fast, 

Mr. Leathers defended the suits, and found to 
his surprise, that from some cause all the magis- 
trates and courts were prejudiced against him. 
He thought, perhaps, that it was because he had 
married a merchant’s widow. (He could not say 


220 


BELLE SCOTT. 


negro merchant, the word stuck in his throat.) He 
had lost his position, and hence was persecuted. 
He abandoned further defenses in despair; and 
said to his wife : “ I see, my dear Martha, that 
Willoughby is no place for us. Let us go where 
we can enjoy our own in peace. I cannot stand 
by and see a dear, confiding wife robbed ; robbed 
before my face under the forms of law ; robbed, my 
dear, with impunity ! It does not become a gen- 
tleman to do so.” 


CHAPTER XXXI. 


THE ESCAPE. 

The boat had passed Cincinnati, and was rapidly 
approaching Guyandotte, where Mr. Scott and his 
party were to land. It stopped, for some purpose, 
on the Ohio shore. Edgar was reading in the 
cabin, when he observed an unusual excitement 
among the people on board; men were running 
to and fro, and women looked alarmed, as if some 
great calamity had happened. He was told that 
some slaves had escaped from the boat. Parties 
were set ashore to hunt the fugitives. After an 
absence of an hour, a shout was raised, and Edgar 
saw with horror two men dragging Belle to the boat. 
Another woman came sulkily along with her cap- 
tors. Belle looked the very image of despair; 
her eyes were swollen; her face pale as ashes; 
her limbs all trembling, so as scarcely to support 
her. But before they reached the boat, another 
party came forward and asserted that the captors 
had no right to take the fugitives (even if they 
were such) from the state, unless an examination 
was first had before a commissioner, and his 
19 ( 221 ) 


BELLE SCOTT. 


222 

certificate obtained to authorize them to do so. 
After much altercation; this claim was acceded to. 
A commissioner lived in the village, his warrant" 
was signed, and the case was set down for hearing. 

Mr. Williams, the commissioner, was apparent- 
ly about thirty years of age, a member of the 
legal profession, whose talents, from his modesty, 
were not yet so far appreciated as to afford him 
a living practice. Hence it was that he was willing 
to accept an office which, though humble, yielded 
him once in a great while five or ten dollars, as 
the case might be. 

The alleged fugitives were brought into the 
court, and the commissioner, seated on the bench, 
commanded an officer in a rather supplicating tone, 
and with a familiar look, to provide seats for the 
crowd that thronged the hall of justice. 

A citizen requested, on behalf of the alleged 
fugitives, that the proceedings should be delayed 
for a short time, till they could find an attorney 
who would attend to the case. This delay was 
granted with a condescending smile and wave of 
the hand, which seemed designed to impress upon 
all, that the commissioner was at heart a most 
gracious and benevolent gentleman. 

After a short time they returned accompanied 
by John Peters, Esq., an attorney of the village, 
who stated that he had been retained for Belle and 


THE ESCAPE. 


223 


the woman Katy, and would soon be ready for 
the trial. 

Mr. Ives went into the court-house, to which 
they had taken the captives. It seemed as if the 
light of hope had fled from Belle forever. Her 
face was pale, and her eyes fixed as in death. At 
first she did not observe Mr. Ives, but looked 
with a vacant stare round the room ; then, as if 
she was slowly recovering her consciousness, she 
looked steadily at him. He went up and spoke 
to her soothingly and kindly. In an instant the 
fountain of her tears was unsealed, and she 
wept, and groaned aloud. All were silent specta- 
tors of her grief; even the rude men who had 
arrested her, seemed awed, in the presence of her 
overwhelming sorrow. She said, “ Oh Mr. Ives, 
do help me ! Iam here among strangers, except 
Mr. Scott and his friends, and they, you know, are 
trying to take me back into slavery. You are 
the only person on earth, to whom I can look 
with confidence for help.” 

Mr. Ives turned pale, and then in a low voice, 
so that none but Belle could hear him, said : “Do 
you not know, Belle, that if I take your part in 
this controversy, it will utterly ruin me.” 

“ I know that . you are engaged to Miss Mary, 
at least I have no doubt of it, but she cannot be 
angry with you for standing by me in an hour of 


224 


BELLE SCOTT. 


affliction, and doing all that you honestly can do, 
to aid me. Oh, Mr. Ives! I feel in my heart 
of hearts, that I have the right to be free. 
I have always had an undefined, but strong 
impression that I was born free, and have in 
some way that I cannot account for, been wrong- 
fully deprived of my liberty.” 

“ All slaves have such impressions, I believe,” 
replied Mr. Ives. 

“ That may be so, but I believe, I am of right free. 
I had rather die, than go back into slavery. I had 
rather be blown into powder fine as snow, than 
be taken across that river,” pointing to the Ohio. 

u Belle, I am sorry for you, but if I do under- 
take your defense in this case, it will work in an 
instant the utter ruin of all my hopes of honor, 
wealth, and happiness in this life. I would ever 
thereafter, be an exile from the state of my birth, 
and the graves of my fathers. And I will have 
to begin life anew, among people whose customs, 
thoughts, and feelings are widely different from 
my own; you know too, that Mr. Scott never 
forgives.” 

u Oh ! I know it all, Mr. Ives. I would not 
ask you, if more than my life did not depend 
upon your aid. You can save me. Oh, for 
Christ’s sake, do so ! ” 

Mr. Ives reeled at the word, as if he had been 


THE CAPTIVES. 


225 


struck a heavy blow. “ I would not do it for any 
fee, nor for all the honors of earth, for I know 
that it will blast my hopes of happiness, at the 
very place where those hopes are garnered ; but I 
will do it for the sake of Christ.” 

Mr. Ives took Mr. Peters aside, and informed 
him, that he would aid him in the defense of Belle. 
He also told Mr. Scott, that he would do so. 

“ What, sir ! you who have been my legal ad- 
viser for years, you turn against me ? I did not 
expect this from you.” 

“ Nor did I expect it. I regret that it is my 
duty, to take her side of the case, and apparently 
to disoblige you ; hut I have determined to do 
so, sir,” laying strong emphasis on the word 
determined. 

“ Very well, sir. Your determinations are of 
course, in your own power. I cannot but regret 
your course, as it will deprive myself and all the 
members of my family, from ever again enjoying 
the great pleasure we have so often had in your 
society.” 

“ You, sir, and the members of your family, 
will of course be controlled by your own views of 
propriety,” replied Mr. Ives, “ and whatever may 
be your future conduct toward me, I shall always 
look back upon the hours I have passed under 
your roof, with gratitude and pleasure.” 


226 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ Good evening, sir,” said Mr. Scott ; “ of course 
you will not accompany us to Richmond.” 

u Certainly not, sir. Adieu.” 

Mr. Ives stated to the commissioner, that he 
could not be ready to argue the case until the 
next day: it was postponed the more readily, 
because Mr. Scott had not yet had time to employ 
a lawyer. Belle and her fellow fugitive were 
ordered to jail, and the boat went on her way. 
Mr. Scott remained to attend the trial, with a 
Mr. Watts, who had been for many years an over- 
seer of Mr. Scott’s, and who was needed as a 
witness. 

At nine o’clock the next morning, the alleged 
fugitives were again brought into the court, now 
closely crowded by people from the village, and 
the surrounding country. All of the spectators 
seemed to take a lively interest in the case. 

Poor Belle looked haggard and care-worn. Her 
depression of spirits had greatly increased. Her 
manner, however, was more composed than it had 
been the day before. Sad as she was, she had 
still found time to bestow a little attention upon 
her toilet, and when seated by the side of her 
sable companion in suffering, every eye was fixed 
in admiration upon her. 

The commissioner, with great apparent dignity, 
asked the parties if they were ready, and upon 


THE CAPTIVES. 227 

being answered that they were, he directed Mr. 
Scott to call his witnesses. 

Mr. Scott proved by his overseer, that he had 
had possession of the girl Belle since she was about 
six years old, and that he saw a bill of sale for her 
in Mr. Scott’s possession about sixteen years be- 
fore, and soon after the girl came to his plantation. 

Witnesses were then called, who stated that the 
girl Belle was on the boat when it landed at the 
village; that she left it before night, and upon 
search being made, was found with the other 
women, hid in some bushes near the village. 
That when her captors approached her, she en- 
deavored to run, and when overtaken, exclaimed, 
“ Oh ! I had rather die, than live a day longer 
as a slave. Kill me if you please, rather than 
carry me back into bondage.” 

The claimant here said he had no further evi- 
dence, and the defendant being called upon, Mr. 
Ives informed the court that in his judgment no 
evidence was needed for the defendant, but that 
if it was, they had none to produce. 

Mr. Scott had employed an attorney, Mr. 
Weston. Mr. Weston read the sections of the 
law of 1850, upon which he relied, and stated that 
the evidence in the case, seemed to make it too 
plain for argument, and therefore he would sub- 
mit the case to the judgment of the commissioner. 


CHAPTER XXXII. 


MARY SCOTT. 

Our lady readers wish, of course, to know as 
soon as possible, the views of Mary Scott respect- 
ing the conduct of Mr. Ives, and we must antici- 
pate a little the course of events, to inform them. 

Mary Scott went on with some friends to Wil- 
loughby, leaving her father to attend to the law- 
suit. 

Mr. Ives, upon whom she had placed all her 
hopes of happiness in this life, had been forbid- 
den to see her. She could but obey the com- 
mand of her father. Her own heart, too, con- 
demned the conduct of Mr. Ives. Did he not 
know the principles of her father ? What freak 
of folly was it that led him, in a rash moment, to 
take the side of Belle ? True, he was a lawyer, 
and could, of course, take either side of a cause, 
and urge whatever arguments might suggest them- 
selves to his mind, with all the force he could on 
behalf of his client; but still there are limits, 
even to professional license ; and it seemed to her 
that Mr. Ives had, in this instance at least, passed 
( 228 ) 


MARY SCOTT. 


229 


those limits. She had not heard his argument, 
but had been told by those who did hear it, 
that it was a tissue of rabid fanaticism — it was 
worse even than that — it went to the very verge 
of treason, and if true would dissolve this Union, 
and tend at least, to deluge our land with blood. 
Could he, so mild and quiet a gentleman, not used 
to excitement, of sober judgment and good sense, 
be recklessly guilty of all these wrongs in behalf 
of a servant, that the whim of that servant might 
be gratified, in her wish to leave the only friends 
she had on earth, and venture alone and uncared 
for among utter strangers ? And then it seemed 
to her, that he might, at least, have consulted her 
views, upon a matter so momentous in its results 
to both of them. Why could not others have been 
employed in his stead ? 'It would have been far 
better, she thought, if Mr. Ives had paid four or 
five lawyers from his own money to defend Belle, 
than that he should have done so himself. They 
could have defended her, and secured all her rights, 
and he would have avoided the difficulties that 
his rashness had brought upon his affianced and 
himself; would have avoided the displeasure of 
her father, and all the consequences that re- 
sulted from it. 

In addition to all this, he had cut himself off 
from all hope of preferment in life ; who now would 


<» 


230 BELLE SCOTT. 

vote for him to fill any office of honor ? who now 
would retain him as an advocate ? who now could 
trust a gentleman who had, apparently in a moment, 
renounced the principles in which he had been 
educated, and who cared so little for the opinions 
of his friends, as to set them at defiance. 

But in the midst of all these upbraidings her 
heart still took the side of Henry Ives. She had 
known him from his childhood, and always knew 
him truthful and firm to his convictions of right. 
She knew that he scorned duplicity, and made it 
a maxim in his professional life, never to misre- 
present either the facts or the law of any case to 
save even the life of his client. Could it be that 
he was sincere in his new views ? 

Could he be otherwise than sincere? What 
motive had he to do wrong in it ? He labored 
without hope of reward, for one of the humblest 
of the human race ; labored against prejudice and 
power ; against the known opinions of his relations 
and friends, and all the opinions of his former life. 

Was he really a fanatic ? that thought was far 
more dreadful to her, than if she believed him to 
be insincere. If it was fanaticism, what had 
produced it? and what remedy lay within her 
power by means of which she could reclaim him 
from his folly ? 

She was now alone in Willoughby, with a 


MARY SCOTT. 


231 


large estate that would, at her father’s death, be 
hers, which she would be unable to manage. She 
knew that her fortune was not the attraction that 
had drawn him ; other fortunes, greater than hers, 
had crossed his path, and would gladly have won 
his attention, but their beautiful possessors had 
received nothing but politeness from Henry Ives. 
With all her wealth she was unhappy, and would 
gladly have resigned it for the moments of quiet 
joy she had felt in the society of her lover. 

Why, if he still loved her, had no letter been 
received from him ? He might have written 
without compromising his self-respect. Indeed it 
seemed to her, that it was his duty to write. 

One day while seated alone in her room, a card 
was brought to her, and on it “ Henry Ives,” and 
below in pencil “at the Pocahontas House — very 
ill, but recovering from a serious attack of brain 
fever.” Her eyes filled as she read it again and 
again, and placed it carefully in her drawer ; and 
then sat down, and again took it, and read it over 
and over, till every word and letter was written 
upon her memory: again she put it away, and 
again, and still again she took and read it. 

What could she do ? Go to his hotel and see 
him ? propriety and self-respect forbade it ; the 
command of her wronged father forbade it. She 
sat down, and thought and wept, and again read 


232 


BELLE SCOTT. 


his card, “very ill.” He cannot come to mi 
He is sick, and a stranger, and alone, and perhaps 
uncared for. What brought him to this city ? 
When did he come ? “ Brain fever ! ” and again 

she mused and wept ; and then as if half uncon- 
scious, she carefully made her toilet — hastily 
and carefully — and again read, “very ill,” and 
was on her way alone to the hotel. She was soon 
at his side, as he lay pale upon a sofa, their hands 
grasped, and all — all in an instant was forgotten 
and forgiven. He was no longer a stranger and 
uncared for, for one watched over him, whose 
pure affection was full of health and life. 

Mary learned from Mr. Ives, that after he had 
separated from her father, he visited a northern 
city, wandering restlessly and unhappily among 
crowds of persons, all of whom were strangers, and 
among scenes in which he took no interest, as 
there was no one to sympathize with him. Every 
day increased his unhappiness, and time rested 
heavily as a great burden upon him. He seemed 
to have cut himself off from the sympathies of his 
race. At home, all would denounce him as a 
traitor ; and one, too, whose treason was -of no 
common dye. He might have killed a fellow-man 
in a duel, and been forgiven, and even elected to 
posts of high honor, the highest in the United 
States; he might have planned and conducted an 


MARY SCOTT, 


233 


expedition to carry war into a neighboring country 
at peace with ours; he might have trodden under 
foot part of the most valuable provisions of the 
Constitution of the United States ; he might have 
denied that the Bible is a revelation from God, 
and thus as far as he could do so, have overthrown 
the only true system of religion on earth, and 
destroyed the foundations of private and public 
virtue; he might have gone much farther, and 
denied even the very existence of God himself — 
and been forgiven. But for denying the dogma, 
that man may have property in his brother man — 
there is no forgiveness. The pulpit and the grog- 
shop; the banker and the gambler; the judge upon 
the bench and the thief on trial before him, would all 
unite with one voice and denounce him ; each echo- 
ing and re-echoing the other, with varied degrees of 
intensity; but all — all with the same bitterness 
of feeling — the. same detestation for him. 

The friends, too, of his early childhood, the 
schoolboys (now men), with whom he had gathered 
wild fruits, and roamed on many a boyish excur- 
sion, who had been proud of him in after life, they 
too, with all the rest, would pity and condemn 
him. And beyond all this, the one whose image 
was ever blended with all his dreams of home and 
happiness in life — she who, when he thought of a 
white cottage, seated amid orange-groves and roses 


234 


BELLE SCOTT. 


ever blooming, and shaded by great trees — she, 
whom he pictured standing at the door to welcome 
his return ; oh ! all was over now ; nothing but a 
wild and dreary desert lay outstretched before 
him, upon whose hot sands a noonday sun was 
ever burning, and the few footprints upon it were 
filled with the blood of the pale wretches that 
wandered hopelessly over it. 

And what had he done to merit all this. He 
had believed from his childhood, for he had always 
been taught it by his parents, and at school and 
at college, and from the press, and from the pulpit, 
and everywhere, and from every source of instruc- 
tion — that it is the right of every American citizen 
to read, and to believe and to obey the whole 
Bible. He had read it, he believed it ; he with 
faltering footsteps had tried to obey it ; he had 
opened his mouth for the dumb, and pleaded the 
cause of those who had none to help. He had 
been a friend to the poor and needy in the hour 
of trial and of peril ; he had, as for Christ, taken 
the part of one of his disciples, and endeavored to 
rescue the Constitution of his country from the 
glosses put upon it, to make good men hate and 
abhor it; he had endeavored, at least, to show 
that that Constitution was the ally and the friend, 
and not the foe of Christianity ; that it was worthy 
of the patriots who framed, and worth all the toil, 


MARY SCOTT. 


235 


and suffering, and sacrifice and blood shed in the 
revolution, of which it was the first and best fruits. 

He had tried, at least, to prove that man, how- 
ever degraded, ignorant, or debased he may be, 
is still too noble, too great, too glorious a being 
to be classed with beasts. And for this — only 
this — he was cut off from all hopes of wealth 
or honor, from happiness, from home. “ The sky 
above him was brass, and the earth beneath him 
iron.” The very atmosphere he breathed seemed 
hot, and thick, and stifling. Are these thy rewards, 
Oh, Liberty ! are these the garlands with which 
thy followers are crowned ! 

He thought still deeper. He had advanced no 
new doctrine, he had invented no truth, but had 
applied an old and familiar one to a new subject. 
He had not made the fire, but had only taken a 
coal from an altar, and applied it to materials 
prepared before him. The beauty of the blaze, 
the heat of the flame were from God. He saw then 
where the hatred really attached ; not to him but 
to Christ ; and now he felt that Christ, when in 
the world, must of necessity, have worn a crown 
of thorns. The light was hated, and the humble 
man who held the lamp ; the truth was hated, and 
the lips that uttered it. But he knew that that 
light, and that truth were from Heaven; that 
they descended together from the throne of God. 


236 


BELLE SCOTT. 


He knew, too, that although its rays are but 
shooting through the darkness, like pencilings 
of early dawn, the hour will come when it will fill 
our atmosphere — wrap the whole globe, and rest 
upon it with unnumbered blessings. And he be- 
came calm and hopeful, and waited patiently, for 
surely as God lives and reigns, his law will conquer. 
Unable to support his great grief alone, he 
started for Willoughby, but on his way was taken 
sick, so sick that he could with difficulty keep his 
seat in the cars till he reached the place. He was 
taken to the hotel — brain fever followed; but 
now he was better, happier — how could he be 
otherwise under such care as recently he had 
received. Mary, too, was glad that the presence 
of a friend was of so great service. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


MR. IVES 5 SPEECH. 

We shall give extracts only, from the speech 
of Mr. Ives. 

“It is necessary that I call your attention 
to the Constitution of the United States, binding 
alike upon aU of us ; and which all of us are under 
the highest obligations to support.” 

He then read from the Constitution: “No 
person held to service or labor in one state, under 
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, 
in consequence of any law or regulation therein, 
be discharged from such service or labor* but shall 
be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom 
such service or labor may be due.” 

I admit that this clause was intended, by 
those who framed the Constitution, to apply to 
slaves. If it does not apply to slaves, for what 
purpose was it placed here ? Why, in so solemn an 
instrument, should the Convention have descended 
to the detail of providing for the reclamation of 
apprentices, and perhaps a few other persons, escap- 
ing from those to whom their labor might be due ? 

20 ( 237 ) 


238 


BELLE SCOTT. 


This clause is to be interpreted by the same 
rules that are applied to all other parts of this 
instrument, and to treaties, and to laws. All of 
these rules may be summed up in a single 
sentence, and that is, that you are, with a fair and 
honest mind, from all the evidence you can 
obtain, both within and without the instrument, 
to ascertain the very mind of those who wrote, 
and who adopted it, so as to carry into effect the 
purpose for which it was written and adopted. 
You are, if the cause is of doubtful meaning, to 
look to the debates in the Convention upon it ; to 
the reports of the committees ; to the debates in 
the Conventions of the several states, and to the 
essays written for popular consideration, at the 
time it was submitted to the people for their 
suffrages. The uniform practice of the several 
departments of the government, from the time it 
was adopted till the present, is also a matter of 
great weight, that by no means should be over- 
looked. 

But this clause is not the whole Constitu- 
tion. That instrument, from abundant caution, was 
amended after it was adopted. The object of the 
amendments, was to guarantee the rights, and 
secure beyond doubt, the civil, political, and above 
all, the religious liberties of the people of the 
United States. These rights and liberties were 


MR. IVES’ SPEECH. 


239 


too dear — had cost too much blood, aud were so 
essential to the happiness of mankind, that the 
people determined by these amendments to secure 
them. They were jealous of power in the hands 
of fallible men. The history of our own country 
showed that power may be abused, to the 
extent even of invading liberty of conscience, and 
the right to worship God according to its dic- 
tates. They formed the Constitution, to secure, 
among other things, the blessings of civil and 
religious liberty to themselves and their posterity. 
They amended it, to make assurance doubly sure. 

The first of these amendments provides, “ Con- 
gress shall make no law respecting an establish- 
ment of religion , or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof or abridging the freedom of speech, or of 
the press, or the right of the people peaceably to 
assemble, and to petition the government for a 
redress of grievances.’ 5 

This clause, too, must be so interpreted, as to 
carry into full effect the very minds of those who 
wrote, and who adopted it ; and to secure to the 
uttermost extent, the several rights enumerated. 

Congress then can make no law “ prohibiting 
the free exercise of religion.” No one ever 
doubted, that the free exercise of the Christian 
religion was intended to be protected and secured 
by this amendment. That religion was, in its 


240 


BELLE SCOTT. 


different divisions, almost the only one professed 
by the people of the United States. 

The whole people of the United States, at the 
time they adopted this amendment, intended to 
secure to each man in the Union, the right to 
believe in God, and to obey him ; the right to 
read the whole Bible, and to obey every com- 
mandment in it ; and from the day that it was 
adopted down to this hour, every citizen of the 
United States has claimed this right. 

This cotemporaneous, and uniform, and uni- 
versal construction of this amendment, cannot be 
wrong. 

By the word “ free,” they meant the unlimited 
exercise of religious freedom. 

What is the free exercise of the Christian 
religion ? 

Christ himself, has informed us : That it is to 
love God with all the heart, and mind, and soul, 
and strength ; and thy neighbor as thyself. On 
these two commandments, hang all the law and 
the prophets. 

The highest exercise of the Christian religion 
is to obey God. 

Christ says, “ Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and 
no not the things that I say ? ” 

The inquiry then is, do the acts of 1793, and 
1850, forbid any man to do any tiling that the 


MR. IVES’ SPEECH. 


241 

Christian religion enjoins upon him ? or, command 
him to do anything that Christianity forbids ? 
For if they either forbid or command any act 
inconsistent with loving God with the whole heart, 
and our neighbor as ourselves, they are contrary 
to the true intent and meaning of the amendment, 
and are nullities. And if so, it is the duty of 
every man in the United States, and especially 
of those who have sworn to support the Con- 
stitution; to maintain it, by insisting, both by 
example and precept, that the laws which are 
opposed to it are void ; were so from the instant 
they were framed. 

I know that it is often said that the Constitution 
was never intended to be applied to slaves. It 
makes no difference in this argument, whether 
this is so or not. It was certainly intended to 
apply to, and protect the President of the United 
States, the judges of the Supreme court, members 
of both branches of Congress, to all the officers 
of the government, and to every citizen of the 
several states of the Union. 

Its application to such officers and persons, has 
never been doubted. 

Has Congress, by either of the acts in question, 
commanded you to do any act inconsistent with 
your duties as a Christian ? 


242 


BELLE SCOTT. 


Slave-holding is sin. 

It is the claim by one man, to hold another man 
as his property, in such manner, as that the master 
has the power to compel the slave to involuntary 
labor during his whole life, without return for his 
labor; and to make the will of the master, the 
rule by which the conduct of tke slave shall be 
guided and controlled. 

The Bible does not, as a treatise on natural 
theology, first prove that there is a God; and 
then, having proved that fact, go on to state what 
he has done. It assumes it as an unquestionable 
fact ; its first line is, “ In the beginning God made 
the heavens and the earth.” 

Nor does it assert that all men have rights. 
That, too, is assumed as unquestionable as the 
existence of God. It forbids man to worship idols, 
assuming that he has it in his power to worship 
them or not. It commands men to remember 
and keep holy the Sabbath-day, taking it for 
granted, that his own will controls his conduct. 
It commands men to bring up their children in 
the nurture and admonition of God ; because it 
recognizes, as the only true position of parents, the 
one in which they have the control of their own 
offspring. And so from the beginning to the 
end of the book, its every page is addressed to 
men in the condition of freemen, and not in the 


MR. IVES’ SPEECH. 


243 


condition of slaves. It is then just as true that 
all men are by nature entitled to freedom, as it 
is that there is a God. 

***** 

God is the Creator of the world, and all that are 
in it. It was his world on the day that he made 
it, and must be his world forever. 

He made day and night, and man has no power 
to change them. 

He made summer and winter, cold and heat, 
seed-time and harvest, and man has no power to 
change them. 

He made those things that are property foi 
man, and made man, and established his relations 
to property, to his fellow-man, and to himself; 
and man has no power to change these relations. 

He read : “ And God said, Let us make man in 
our image, after our likeness ; and let them have 
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the 
fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and over all 
the earth, and over every creeping thing that 
creepeth upon the earth. 

u So God created man in his own image — in the 
image of God created he him, male and female 
created he them.” 

Here the distinction between man and property 
is clearly marked, and accurately defined. 

A an is made in the image or likeness of God 


244 


BELLE SCOTT. 


God has given to man dominion over the fish 
of the sea, over the fowls of the air, and over the 
cattle and over all the earth, and over every 
creeping thing, that creepeth upon the earth. 

This was made to Adam, as the father and re- 
presentative of the whole race. 

From the creation of man to this hour, in all 
ages, and among all nations, man has been every- 
where, the Lord of all things in this world. From 
the naked negro lying in the palm tree’s shade, 
to the Esquimaux tumbling amid the ice-drifts of 
the polar sea, all are alike conscious, although 
untaught, that man is master of the beasts of the 
field, and of all the earth. The lion cowers 
beneath his gaze, and shrinks trembling from his 
presence ; the eagle flies affrighted at his approach, 
and the whale dives to the bottom of the ocean? 
to seek in its caves a hiding-place from his 
superior power. 

In civilized life, the lightning obeys his call; 
comes from its home in the thunder-cloud, crouches 
as a spaniel at his feet, and flies at his command, 
the meek and silent messenger of his will. 

The things that God has given to man for 
property, are property in all places on the earth, 
and have been property in all ages, and will be 
property to the end of the world. He stamped 
with his own right hand, the impress of property 


me. ives’ speech. 


245 


upon them, deeper than the footprints of gigantic 
birds on old rocks, and that impress remains 
forever. 

When the horse in battle loses his rider ; when 
treasures of an unknown owner, are cast by ship- 
wreck upon the shore, or when the owner, tired of 
his property, throws it away, the finder may seize 
the waif or the estray, and take it to his own use. 

If therefore the black man is property, he must 
alwa} r s be so. If the present owner shall abandon 
his claim, the next finder may seize him, and 
subject him to his ownership. The emancipated 
slave may indeed roam like the wild horse in the 
desert, but is subject to be re-captured and 
subdued, as is the wild horse, by the first man 
who can seize him. 

States and nations may make laws to secure 
men in their rights to property ; but they have 
neither created property, nor conferred upon man 
the right to hold it. Men held property before 
they made laws. 

The distinction between man and property, is 
as wide, and as impassable, as is the distinction 
between men and beasts, God has made a great 
gulf between them, wider than the earth, and 
deeper than hell. Property can never be made 
man, and man can never be made property. As 
it is certain that man cannot be made a beast, it 
21 


246 


BELLE SCOTT. 


is equally certain that man never can have 
property in man. 

Legislation has indeed declared that some men 
are property, but God has stamped all such 
legislation, through his revealed Word, as a great 
lie. Legislation has sometimes declared that 
Christ is not the Saviour of the world. That also, 
he has stamped as a lie. 

Men have the power to enslave their fellow- 
men. So, too, they have the power to cut off 
their limbs, to put out their eyes, to shut them 
up in dungeons, to rob and murder them. Some- 
times this is done under law, and sometimes 
without law, and against law. The existence of 
the power therefore, does not even tend to prove 
the right so to exercise it. The power to kill a 
man, is no proof of the right to do so; and the 
power to enslave a man, is no proof whatever of 
the right to do so. From the very nature of man 
as a free moral agent, he has the power to sin ; 
but to claim that he has the right to sin, is simply 
to annihilate the distinction between good and 
evil, right and wrong. 

***** 

God gave to the black man eyes, he therefore 
has the right to see. 

He gave him ears, therefore he has the right 
to hear. 


MR. IVES’ SPEECH. 


247 


He gave him a tongue, therefore he has the 
right to speak. He gave him hands and feet, 
and therefore he has the right to use his limbs. 

God also gave him intellect, will, reason, judg- 
ment, passions, affections, feelings, and therefore 
he has the right to will , to reason, to judge, and 
to control his own conduct by their guidance, as 
fully as he has the right to walk by the vision of 
his own eyes. The master has no right to put 
out the eyes of his slave, and therefore has no 
right to crush or to control his will. 

When man claims property in his fellow-man, 
where is his warrant ? He has all the right to 
the things of this earth that God has given him, 
and no more. Where, then, is the authority by 
which one man can have the right to hold another 
man as property ? It is not in the Bible. 

Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Why ? 
Because thy neighbor’s rights are equal to thy own. 

Do unto others as you would that others should 
do unto you; because, as your rights are equal, 
the measure of your duties is also equal. 

And it is only by bursting through these walls 
of fire, and trampling these laws under foot ; and 
stopping his ears to the voice of the Lord God 
speaking in thunder, that any man can seize his 
fellow, and deprive him of the rights that these 
commandments have conferred upon him. 


248 


BELLE SCOTT. 


There is a distinction between legislation and 
tyranny. The province of legislation is to pro- 
tect men in their rights. “ Governments are insti- 
tuted for the good of the governed.” Tyranny 
strikes down the rights of man. The distinction 
is as wide as the difference between right and 
wrong ; the whole moral world rolls between them. 

It may be as difficult to know the precise point 
where legislative power ends, and tyranny begins, 
as it may be for the late traveler to know when 
daylight has ceased; but he knows it is night, 
when he is groping in thick darkness. 

Slave-holding is tyranny, because it deprives 
a man of all his rights : if it is not so, the word 
has either no meaning, or has been misapplied in 
all ages and among all men, and there can be no 
such thing as tyranny on earth. 

You cannot surrender a fugitive slave without re- 
cognizing the rightfulness of the claim of the master 
to the services of the slave. All the fugitive-slave - 
laws, assume as their basis, that the claim of the 
master to the person of the slave, is a rightful claim. 

The whole system of slavery, and the fugitive 
slave-acts — which are intended to sustain and 
secure that system — proceed upon the theory that 
slave-holding is not a sin. The Bible teaches 
us that it is sin; and this first amendment, 
guarantees to us the right to treat it as sin. 


MR. IVES’ SPEECH. 


249 


A slave is an article of property; may be 
bought and sold ; can own nothing of this world’s 
lands or goods ; may have his wife separated from 
him forever ; may have his children one by one 
sold before his eyes, into returnless bondage ; he 
cannot learn to read even the name of God ; may 
not, except at the will of his master, go up to 
worship God in his sanctuary ! 

As a man, he is an immortal being ; and it is our 
duty, and our right to treat him as a man. 
Others may disregard this duty, and deny this 
right; others may treat him, if they dare, as 
property ; but with our Bible in our hands, we 
cannot do so. The light that burns as of polished 
gold, upon all its pages, teaches us too clearly for 
doubt, that he is a man. 

When God commands a man to do a thing, he 
gives him the right to do it. 

He commanded Daniel to pray. The power 
of the Persian empire forbade him; but he 
prayed : and God by a miracle sanctioned his con- 
duct. 

He commanded the three holy children not to 
worship idols; they were commanded by the 
Persian king to do so; and God by a miracle 
sustained them in refusing to disobey the king. 

Christ commanded the apostles to preach the 
Gospel ; they were forbidden to do so by the Jews, 


250 


BELLE SCOTT. 


whom they refused to obey ; and God by miracles 
sanctioned their conduct. 

The whole Christian world has applauded this 
conduct of Daniel, and of the three holy children, 
and of the apostles for more than eighteen cen- 
turies; so that we have the direct sanction of 
God, and the unanimous voice of all the civilized 
world for ages upon ages, sustaining the principle, 
that what God commands men to do, He gives 
them the right to do. 

* # * # * 

Here then lies the radical difference between 
the one theory and the other. God never created a 
soul for slavery — nor a body, the mere habitation 
of the soul — to wear its shackles. The immortal 
being, swells beyond the limits of the fetters that 
encompass him; bursts them, as straw, into frag- 
ments. He walks with the sunlight of God upon 
his brow, and hosts of unseen angels cluster 
around him. 

It is our right ; the right of all the citizens of 
the United States; born with us as men, and 
secured, and guaranteed, and established by the 
wisdom of our fathers in this first amendment to 
the Constitution, to tret the fugitive as a man . 

We dare not relinquish this right. It is part 
of our own immortality. We can no more relin- 
quish it, than we can destroy our own souls. It 


MR. IVES’ SPEECH. 


251 


is sacred, it came down from God out of Heaven. 
To relinquish it for a moment, is treason to our 
country, and apostasy from God. No, by the 
battle-fields of our revolution, and the blood of 
our fathers shed upon them; by the blood of 
each holy martyr, from the dawn of creation to 
this hour ; by our love of the Bible, and the great 
truths it teaches ; by the graves of our mothers, 
who taught us to read and love it, and by the 
holy dust that slumbers within their coffins ; by 
every tie that can bind man to man, and man to 
his God ; w r e cannot, we must not, we dare not, 
we will not relinquish for a moment only, this 
great right. 

If an act of Congress commanded you to 
worship an idol ; such act would be, by the Consti- 
tution itself, but a nullity. If an act of Congress 
commanded you not to pray, as Daniel was com- 
manded ; the act would be but void. 

If Congress commanded you, as the early 
Christians were commanded, to burn but a single 
grain of incense at the altar of Caesar ; you might 
with impunity, as they did, at the loss of their 
lives, spurn the command. 

If Congress forbids any man to preach the 
gospel, as the apostles were forbidden ; such act 
would be void. 

All of these examples, and a thousand more, 


252 


BELLE SCOTT. 


were familiar to the men who prepared and who 
adopted this amendment. 

If the act required a commissioner to aid a 
robber in his robbery, it would be clearly void, for 
robbery is sin. 

If it required him to guard the spoil of the 
pirate, or the robber, or to aid the robber in guard- 
ing it, it would be clearly void. 

If it required him to condemn innocent men, 
not even charged with crime, into imprisonment 
for ten years in the penitentiary, it would be 
clearly void ; because the act of condemnation 
would be sin. 

If it required him to tear a husband from his 
wife, or the wife from the husband, it would be 
clearly void, for such act is sinful. God has said, 
“Let not man put asunder, whom God hath 
joined.” 

If it required him to tear the child from the 
parent, it would be clearly void, for the relation 
is established by God as an incident to that of 
marriage. 

If it required him to defraud the laborer of his 
wages, or to withhold the wages from the laborer, 
the act would be a sin : so, too, is it a sin to aid 
or assist another to do the same wrong. 

If it required him to deny to any man the 
right to keep holy the Sabbath day, it would be 


MR. IVES’ SPEECH. 253 

void ; and so too it is, if it requires him to aid 
another man to do so. 

If it required him to oppress any man, it would 
be void; and so too if it requires him to aid 
another man in his oppression. 

If it required him to degrade human nature as 
far as he could do so, to the condition and level 
of the brute, it would be void ; or to aid any 
other man to do so. 

If it required him to deny that God created 
man in his own image, a little lower than the 
angels, and crowned him with glory and honor, 
the act would be void. 

If the act required him to deny the authority 
of Christ to make the law, “ Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself,” it would be void. 

If it allowed him to admit the authority to 
make such law, but commanded him to disregard 
it, or to aid another man in disregarding and con- 
temning it, it would be void. 

If it required him to be a respecter of persons 
in judgment, it would be void, for such act is sin. 

If it required him to take the side of the op- 
pressor, against the right of the poor and needy, 
and the oppressed, the act would be void ; for such 
conduct is sin. 

If it required him to sustain by his conduct, the 
dogma that man can have property in his fellow- 


254 


BELLE SCOTT. 


man, it would be void ; for that doctrine is as disho- 
noring to God, and as injurious to man as any that 
ever has existed on earth; and Congress can no more 
compel a man to recognize the rightfulness of this 
doctrine in his official or private conduct, than 
they can compel him to recognize the doctrine of 
transubstantiation. 

If it required him to commit upon an innocent 
man, not even charged with crime, an act of great 
cruelty ; as to put out his eyes, or to aid another 
man to do so, it would be void ; and so, too, would 
it be void, upon the same principle, if it required 
him to aid another to crush the will of man. 

Christ says, “ whatsoever ye do to one of the 
least of these my disciples, ye do unto me.” 

And again he says, “ whosoever shall offend one 
of these little ones that believe in me; better 
were it for him that a millstone were hanged 
about his neck, and he cast into the sea.” 

If Christ was here as he is described since his 
ascension, seated upon the throne, King of 
kings, and Lord of lords, with angels and arch- 
angels, and all the redeemed of the earth, wor- 
shiping at his feet ; would not the very thought 
of sending him into slavery, be blasphemy ? 

If Christ was here as he was in the hall of 
Pilate, crowned with thorns, and you knew him, 
would you send him into slavery ? 


MR. IVES SPEECH. 


255 


He is here; he is here in the person of his 
disciple. Christ himself is here. He says to 
you, “ Whatever you do to this my disciple, you 
do to me.” If you send her into slavery, you 
send me into slavery; if you send her to the 
auction-block, you send me to the auction-block ; 
if you send her to the lash, you send me to the 
lash. If her flesh and blood are sold, my flesh 
and my blood are sold, as Judas sold it. If an 
act of Congress that should command you to 
worship a golden image would be void, because 
contrary to this amendment, these acts are also 
void, because they command you to do a greater 
wrong, and to commit a fouler and deeper sin. 
These acts do , in effect , command you to abjure 
and to renounce the Christian religion , by com- 
manding you to trample in the very dust the body 
of Christy in the person of his humble disciples. 
They demand of you, if it be possible, a still 
greater sacrifice. Christ has said, “ better would 
it be for you, that a millstone were hanged about 
your neck, and that you were cast into the sea, 
than that you offend this little one.” These acts 
therefore, command you to sacrifice more than 
life — your soul. 

If you surrender your own liberty of conscience, 
you betray this great right not only for yourself, 
but for all the people of the United States. 


256 


BELLE SCOTT. 


No man can serve two masters : either he will 
love the one, and hate the other ; or cleave to the 
one, and forsake the other. No man can serve 
God and Mammon. 

We must then choose between these claims. 

If we take the side of the master ; we recognize 
his claim to the services of the slave. 

If we take the part of the slave, we deny that 
claim. 

This amendment to the Constitution was made 
for the very purpose of securing to us our right 
to obey God rather than man. It was adopt- 
ed for that object, and Congress can make no 
law that conflicts, in any degree, or to any ex- 
tent, with its purpose and meaning. 

Christianity and slavery are antagonistic prin- 
ciples. 

Christianity enters into the heart of man as 
into a great temple, and lights a pure and holy 
flame upon its altars. Slavery comes into the 
same temple, and extends her bloody hand, and 
extinguishes the last ray of its light, and fills it 
with the silence, and the corruption of the grave. 

Christianity, as she descended from Heaven, 
proclaimed, trumpet-tongued, to all the nations of 
the listening earth, the immortality of man. 

Slavery herds him with the beasts of the field. 

Slavery robs the slave of the wages for his labor. 


MR. IVES' SPEECH. 


257 


Christianity commands that he shall be paid for 
it by the light of the setting sun. 

Slavery denies to him the marriage relation. 
Christianity blesses that relation, and guards it 
by her protecting wall of fire. Slavery robs the 
slave even of the children of his love. Christianity 
places them in his embracing arms, and blesses 
the embrace. 

I can add but little upon this part of my argu- 
ment, except to say, that your writ will command 
the executive officer of this court to deliver the 
alleged fugitive to her claimant. Even if you shall 
be willing to encounter the horrors that compli- 
ance with these alleged laws, will, as sure as the 
Bible is the true word of God himself, bring upon 
you; you ought not to command, you have no 
right to command, another, less educated than 
yourself, to do so. He, too, is protected by this 
amendment to the Constitution. He too has 
liberty of conscience. He too has an immortality 
of happiness or of woe before him. You ought 
not command him to surrender Christ into slavery, 
in the person of his disciple. Your oath binds 
you to support the whole Constitution, in all its 
parts, including this amendment, and you have no 
right to violate it by commands to your officer to 
do a deed of sin and shame. 


258 


BELLE SCOTT. 


Upon the theory that the third clause of the 
fourth article has not been repealed by the first 
amendment, and that that amendment is to be 
inviolably preserved, execute if you can, that 
third clause of the fourth article ; but in doing so, 
be careful that you require no judge, no commis- 
sioner, no marshal, no citizen of the United States, 
no man, whether a citizen or not, to do anything 
whatever inconsistent with loving God with all his 
heart, and his neighbor as himself; for this is the 
exercise of the Christian Religion. 

But the laws of 1793 and 1850, require us to 
take the part of the master, and to aid him to 
take the fugitive back into slavery. 

Congress not only has no power to pass any 
law that interferes with any man’s religious 
liberty, but to make the matter still more certain, 
all power whatever to pass any law, that directly 
or indirectly interferes with any man’s religious 
liberty, is by plain words expressly taken away 
and withheld from Congress. 

Nor can they then pass any law by which any 
judge, or commissioner, or other officer of the gov- 
ernment of the United States, may be compelled to 
aid in any degree in returning to his master a fug- 
tive slave ? For the judge, or commissioner, or 
other officer of the United States is, in his office, the 
agent for the government, of the whole people ; and 


MR. IVES* SPEECH. 259 

the law that strikes down his rights, strikes down 
their rights. 

There is no difference, in principle, between a 
law that forbids us to read the Bible, and a law 
that forbids us to obey it, or if there is, it is 
better that we shall not have the power to read it, 
than that we shall be compelled to disobey it. 

Just so far as slavery is in conflict with the 
Bible, these acts of 1793 and 1850 command us 
to do what the Bible forbids. 

It is the duty of the people of the United 
States to love God with all their hearts, and their 
neighbors as themselves; and every law that 
interferes with this (as do the acts ’93 and ’50) 
pierces the very vitals of the Christian religion as 
the spear of the Homan soldier pierced the heart 
of Christ on the cross. 

The claim, of right, to recapture a fugitive 
slave, requires the agency of officers and men 
who are guaranteed in the enjoyment of the right 
to religious liberty. 

The slave-holding states claimed the right to 
recapture fugitive slaves: that was conceded to 
them. They then wanted the Constitution amen- 
ded so as that Congress shall make no law “ re- 
specting an establishment of Religion or prohibit- 
ing the free exercise thereof.” All the states 


260 


BELLE SCOTT. 


wanted it and it was adopted by the consent of 
the slave, and of the free states. 

The people intended, by this amendment, to 
secure to themselves and their posterity forever, 
the free enjoyment of religious liberty. If there 
lurked, in the Constitution before it was amended, 
any power whatever to interfere with any man’s 
religious freedom, either directly or indirectly, 
they intended, by this amendment, to deprive 
Congress of all power to do so. And they have 
done it. 

There is, there can be no question that Con- 
gress never had power, since the Constitution has 
been amended, to pass any law that directly 
or indirectly, to any extent, impairs any man’s 
religious liberty. The only question here is, do 
the laws that sanction slavery and require the 
people of the United States to redeliver a fugitive 
slave, require any man to commit a sin ? 

These acts of 1793, and 1850, do require acts 
to be done, which Christianity forbids and pro- 
hibits — acts which it enjoins. 

These acts are therefore void. If Congress can 
make another, not inconsistent with the first, and 
other amendments to that instrument, let them 
do so, but until they do, you have no power to 
act upon the subject. 


MR. IVES’ SPEECH. 


261 


There is, sir, nothing novel in the fact, that 
.Christianity is constantly making fresh and new 
application of its truth and light to old abuses. 
At the time this amendment was adopted, scarcely 
a man in the United States, thought that the 
moderate drinking of spirituous liquors was 
inconsistent with Christianity ; now thousands of 
the best and most enlightened Christians in our 
country, think that it is so. 

The whole matter then, results in this. If 
slave-holding is a sin, and to aid, abet, and 
support it, is sinful in any degree, then Congress 
can pass no law by which any man in the slave 
states, or in the free states, can be compelled to 
participate in that sin. 

If slave-holding is contrary to the genius and 
spirit of Christianity, then it is an interference 
with religious liberty, to compel any man directly 
or indirectly to participate in it. 

The slave-holders made their contract, by 
which they acquired the right claimed for them, 
and afterward made another contract, by which 
they surrendered that right, if it could not be 
exerted without violating the right to the “ free 
exercise of religion.” 

If my theory is wrong, then there is not an 
inch of our soil, which is sacred to freedom. 
Neither the graves of the heroes of the revolution, 

22 


262 


BELLE SCOTT. 


nor the battle-fields upon which they poured out 
their blood, nor the domestic hearth, nor the 
altars of God, nor the mountain-tops, nor fche 
caves of the earth, are sacred to freedom. Into 
all of these the slave-hunter may enter, and drag 
from them his shrieking, and trembling victim, 
back again into hopeless bondage. 

But if my theory is true, and I do most fully 
believe it is so ; then the first moment the flying 
bondman touches the soil of the free states, he is 
free. His flesh, and blood, and bones, and soul, 
are all then, under God, his own. The slave is 
left behind him, and he stands up a MAN. He 
can now worship his God according to the teach- 
ings of his conscience. He can now learn to 
read, and with his Bible open before him, look at 
the wonders it teaches ; as he looks at, and loves 
the stars of Heaven. He can now be a husband and 
a father, and bring up his children in the nurture 
and fear of the Lord. He can now labor, and have 
his labor sweetened by the hope of reward. 

If this theory is true, Congress had no right, 
and never can have, until the first amendment of 
the Constitution shall be repealed, to pass any 
law, by which any man shall be required to aid in 
the surrender of a fugitive slave ; nor can any 
state do so, whose Constitution has in it a 
guarantee of religious liberty. 


MR. IVES’ SPEECH. 


263 


The whole inquiry rests upon this only. Is it 
right, or is it wrong for one man, in any degree, 
to aid another to re-capture a fugitive slave ? 

The natural feelings of humanity in every 
man’s bosom, exclaim in thunder-tones, that it 
is wrong ! And the law of Christ, as firmly fixed 
as any physical law that governs matter, that 
“ whatever (either good or ill) you do to one of 
the least of his disciples, you do to Him ; and 
that you had better be drowned in the sea, than 
to wrong the least of those disciples,” leaves no 
doubt in the mind of any Christian, that it is ruin 
to his soul, to obey this law. 

We can swear then, to support our Constitu- 
tion ; nor will the oath come reluctantly from us, 
for it will express the warmest feelings of our 
hearts. Ay, we will support it ; we will cluster 
around our national flag, its emblem, rejoicing with 
our children, amidst the green fields, and waving 
harvests, in days of peace; and in luxurious 
cities, where commerce rolls her golden tides 
along ; and upon every sea, and every shore to 
which the sails of that commerce may bear us. 
And we will support it, as our fathers supported 
that flag, amid the din, and noise, and strife of 
battle and of blood, on the deck of the ship, as 
she careens at each broadside that she receives 
or gives ; and on fields, where the dying and the 


264 


BELLE SCOTT. 


dead are lying thickly around us, and the living 
are struggling for victory or death. 

We will support it, because it is worthy of 
support. We do love it, because it is worthy of 
our love. It secures to us, the right to worship 
and obey God. The power to make any law, at 
all inconsistent with the fullest and freest exercise 
of any religious duty, is expressly taken away 
from Congress. They can no more compel us to 
deliver God’s image into slavery, or to aid in the 
least, any other man to do so, than they can 
compel us to annihilate our own souls. 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 


THE PRISON. 

Poor Belle seemed at first to be in despair, 
but as her counsel proceeded in his argument — 
as his flushed face and earnest tones showed how 
deeply he felt what he was saying — her hopes 
seemed to revive ; and when he sat down, a smile — 
the light of life — lit up her features ; she wiped a 
tear — a tear of gratitude from her eyes — and in 
low tones, but with a fervor that showed how full 
her heart was, thanked Mr. Ives for his efforts 
on her behalf. 

The commissioner stated that, in view of the 
new course of argument pursued by the counsel 
for the defendant, he would take time to deliber- 
ate upon the questions raised • and inquired at 
what time it would be convenient for the parties 
to be present and hear his decision. 

Mr. Scott §pd that he would be absent on 
business for several weeks, and would then return 
to his home near .New Orleans. If the decision 
could be postponed until his return, it would 
accommodate him. 


( 265 ) 


266 


BELLE SCOTT. 


Belle readily assented to this, and the com- 
missioner said that in ten weeks he would de- 
cide the matter ; and that the parties might pre- 
pare themselves, and then produce any addi- 
tional evidence they might have, and if further 
argument was wished for by either party, both 
would again be heard. He said : “ I shall be 
obliged, however, (greatly as I dislike to do so,) 
to commit the defendants to prison until the time 
I have set for delivering my opinion.” 

No change passed over Belle’s countenance when 
she heard the order to remand her to jail. The 
other woman, who was much older than she, was 
greatly frightened. 

She said, “ she did not want to run away, but 
that she was ’suaded off.” Her master asked 
her who persuaded her to leave him. 

She then said, “ Oh ! nobody, master ; I only 
took a walk out, and intended to come back 
directly, but it was dark, so that I could not find 
the boat. 

The commissioner then explained her rights, 
and even went so far as to intimate that it might 
be that she would not be delivered up at all, but 
would be suffered to go where she pleased at the 
end of the time. But she was so frightened by 
the word jail, that after a few moments of apparent 
indecision, she said she would go with her master 


THE PRISON. 267 

if he would forgive her, and she would never 
attempt to run away again. 

Mr. Scott walked across the room, and said that 
he was satisfied with the order made by the court. 

The woman Katy was taken to a steamboat on 
the river, and into slavery for life. If her eyes 
had been put out by the slaveholder, all would 
have denounced the act as one of great cruelty ; 
her will was crushed — and but few men saw any 
wrong or cruelty in doing that. 

Mr. Heed accompanied Belle to the jail. When 
they reached it, the jailer, Mr. Jackson, carefully 
read the commitment twice very slowly, and then 
looked at the writing on the back of it. “All is 
right. Is this the person who is named in this 
writ?” The marshal said, “Yes.” 

Belle was then told to be seated for a few 
moments in the front room, which the jailer’s 
family occupied as a dwelling. 

In a short time the jailer came back and said, “ I 
will now show you your cell.” Belle, without even 
the appearance of reluctance, followed him along 
a wide hall, until they reached the cell farthest 
from the entrance. Into that she was told to 
enter. She did so. The only furniture was a 
bed and a chair. There was no window, but the 
door was made of thick iron bars ; these crossed 
each other, and left small openings of about an 


2(58 


BELLE SCOIT. 


inch and a half square. The jailer closed the 
door, and Belle was locked in alone. 

The jailer now left, and Mr. Reed lingered a 
few minutes, standing outside the cell He said : 

“ Belle, I am very sorry for you, locked up here 
in this gloomy cell, and where the few that see 
you are all strangers ; you are indeed a stranger 
in a strange land.” 

“You may think my condition an unhappy 
one, sir, but indeed I feel as if a load was taken 
from my heart. I would much rather live here all 
my life and die here, among strangers, than return 
to slavery. This air, close and foul as it is, is 
fresh and healthy compared with that of slavery. 
I breathe more freely. I am full of hope.” 

“What did you intend to do when you left 
the boat ?” 

“ I did not know where to go — anywhere where 
I could be free. I intended to teach music, French, 
German and embroidery, if I could get pupils, and 
to live quietly and keep the condition of my life 
a secret.” 

“ Did you intend to go to Canada ?” 

“No, unless I found it necessary to do so, and 
then I would have gone even to the polar regions 
rather than be recaptured. Canada, I think, is 
too cold for me. I could not be known as a slave 
by my complexion.” 


THE PRISON. 


269 


“ Well, Belle, I am sorry for you, I will do all 
that I can to aid you, and to make you comfort- 
able while you are here. I will, with your permis- 
sion, visit you often, and bring you books and 
papers, and a lady to see you who was a school- 
mate of my early life.” 

“ Come, do come frequently, and let me, if you 
please, see the lady; companionship is always 
pleasant, and (looking round) it will be doubly so 
here.” 

Mr. Reed bade her good-by and left the jail. 

Early the next morning, as he was going to his 
work, he again called with some newspapers. 

He found Belle very sad. The excitement of 
the previous day had gone off, and she was pale 
and nervous. 

“ How have you passed the night, Belle ?” 

“Oh! I have scarcely slept at all. I have 
been thinking, thinking, thinking all night long. 
Almost all the events of my life have passed in 
review before me as far as I can remember ; and 
indeed, although I see much in it which, if I could 
do over again, I hope I should do better, I cannot 
see why it is that I should be a slave and be 
here ? My crime, in running off, is but the crime 
of a canary bird, that flies from the open door of 
its cage. I have never in my life injured any 
one in property, person, or reputation. I have 
23 


270 


BELLE SCOTT. 


lived quietly and peaceably, as far as I could, with 
all persons. I have lived in the midst of society 
but almost alone in the world. 

While we were talking at the door of the cell, 
the grate that led into the hall was opened and a 
gentleman came in who was a clergyman, and the 
chaplain of the prison. 

His salutation to Belle was courteous and kind. 
“ I came,” he said, “ to see you, because I believe 
it to be my duty to visit all who may be 
imprisoned here. I deeply sympathize with you 
and believe slave-holding a great sin. I have 
heard too of the defense made for you by your 
counsel, and have almost as deep an interest as 
yourself, in the decision which may be made. 
Whatever I can do to soften the pains of imprison- 
ment while you remain here, if you wish, will 
gladly be done ; and I have many kind friends 
among the ladies of the village and the surround- 
ing country who will, if you please, visit you. 

Belle’s eyes filled with tears. She extended 
as many of her fingers as she could, through the 
aperture of the door to the minister, who grasped 
them as if she had been an old friend. He then 
gave her some tracts, and prayed with her — pro- 
mised to call again soon, and went away. 

In a moment or two after he left, Belle said : 

“ Will you bring the lady to see me to-day ? ” 


THE PRISON. 


271 


u Yes. We will come this afternoon.” 

“ I shall look earnestly for you, and shall count 
the heavy hours as they pass, until you and. the 
lady shall visit me.” 

“ Good-by, Belle.” 

“ Good-by. I thank you for your call, and 
your newspapers.” 


CHAPTER XXXV. 


THE JAIL. 

The description of this jail, may be of service 
to the reader. It was a brick building two 
stories high, with its front to the east ; built ten 
or twelve feet back from the street. Between it 
and the street, was a post-and-rail fence; and 
along the line of the fence, standing ten or twelve 
feet apart, a row of locust trees. The entrance 
was near the south end of the building. That 
door opened into the room occupied by the jailer 
and his family as a sitting-room. At the south- 
west corner of that room, there was a staircase 
that led to the second story, the whole of which 
was used as a dwelling by the jailer’s family. 

To the right of the front door, and near it as 
you entered the house, was a large door made of 
very heavy iron bars, that so crossed each other, as 
to leave apertures of diamond shape not more than 
an inch wide. This led into a hall, made on the 
one side, by the east wall of the jail, and on the 
other, by the walls of the row of cells. In this hall 
there was a large stove, that in winter warmed all 
( 272i 


THE JAIL. 


273 


the cells. The hall was lighted by three windows in 
the east wall of the jail, all of which were crossed 
with heavy iron bars. The door that led from 
the jailer’s room into the hall, was fastened by a 
large lock; then by an iron bar of great weight, 
that passed from one corner at the upper part of 
the door, to the lower corner on the opposite side ; 
one end of this bar had a hole in it, which passed 
into an iron staple that seemed to have been 
built in the wall itself; the other end was fastened 
over a staple by a lock. In addition to these, 
and for greater security, as this was the important 
door of the prison, it was fastened by a padlock and 
chain which passed over the bar, and around it, and 
through the apertures of the door. No one had 
ever escaped from the prison, by means of that 
door ; some had cut their way out, after weeks of 
labor, through the walls, but the door was thought 
to be entirely safe. 

Each cell had to it an iron door, with no other 
fastening than a large lock; these doors were 
made of bars, which crossed each other. 

The three windows that lighted the building in 
the east wall, were each about two feet square. 

The minister made a remark that surprised 
me. “I have visited,” he said, “persons in these 
cells for twenty years, and have conversed with 
hundreds of their inmates. The prisoners are 


274 


BELLE SCOTT. 


generally young persons — nearly all of them are 
either the children or grandchildren of rich men. 
Education alone, by which I mean, learning to 
read and write, independent of moral training, does 
not deter men from crime. Many of the greatest 
criminals I have met with have been educated 
and even talented men.” 

The lady alluded to by Mr. Reed, in his con- 
versation with Belle, was Mrs. Johnston; she had 
heard of the trial and of the interesting young 
girl who had been committed to prison. She 
wished to see her, and with Mr. Reed called upon 
Belle about four o’clock in the afternoon of the 
same day just mentioned. Mrs, Jackson’s seat 
was opposite the door of the hall, where she could, 
while knitting or sewing, see through the aper- 
tures in the door all that took place in the hall. 

Belle received Mrs. Johnston with dignity and 
cordiality. She said, “that with the exception 
of the jailer’s wife, whose domestic cares seemed 
fully to occupy her time, yours is the first female 
face I have seen since I have been here. Oh ! 
it is so kind in you to come to see me.” The 
conversation at first was a little constrained on 
both sides, but in a few minutes both Belle 
and Mrs. Johnston were as well acquainted as if 
they had been friends for years. 

We were both seated on chairs outside the door 


MRS. JOHNSTON. 


275 


of the cell. During this conversation Mr. Reed 
had a better opportunity to notice Belle carefully 
than he ever had before. When her taper fingers 
were passed around the bars of the grate so as to 
be seen with distinctness, he carefully looked at 
the roots of the nails. They were purely and 
pearly white, not a shade of dusky yellow, the last 
trace of African blood, could be seen. 

Mrs. Johnston said, “ This is a dull, sad place, 
are you not afraid, especially at night ?’ 

“ Oh no ! dull as it is, and sad as it is, it is 
better, and I feel happier here than I did when I 
was at home.” 

u Why, were you badly treated ? ” 

“ If you mean by bad treatment, blows, or harsh 
words, hard tasks, or want of food, clothing, or of 
rest, or of mental culture, I was not badly treated. 
I was educated with his daughter ; we learned 
music and ancient and modern languages together ; 
we slept in the same room, and ate our meals 
generally at the same table ; my duties were but 
little more than hers ; my cares perhaps lighter. 
But,” said she, rising from her seat and standing 
erect, “if you mean by bad treatment, to be 
deprived of the social companionship of my equals ; 
and above all, to be claimed and held as a slave ; 
then I was badly treated. When I was a mere 
child I longed to be free, and as T grew up, that 


276 


BELLE SCOTT. 


wish became a passion. All my hopes of earthly 
happiness, are concentrated in one wish, ‘ for free- 
dom.’ Without it, there is no position that I 
have ever imaged, in which I could be happ} r . 
With freedom, and the bare necessaries of life, 
such as I am sure I could earn by my own exer- 
tions, I should be happy anywhere. 

“ Once, when I was quite a child, I visited with 
our family a collection of wild beasts. When I 
saw the lions, and tigers, and bears, and leopards, 
all pacing their cages from side to side, I loved 
them intensely, for I thought that their hearts 
and mine beat alike, in one wild, restless, enduring 
wish for freedom. 

“ And even now, whenever a bird flies over me, 
I envy the little creature the freedom it enjoys. 
I have sometimes been in the society of the blind, 
of the dumb, of the lame, and often of the sick ; 
and asked myself whether my condition, with the 
blessing of all my senses, was not better than 
theirs ; but I am sure that freedom with blindness, 
with sickness, with any calamity to which our 
race is subject, except perhaps insanity, is better 
than perfect health in slavery. Oh ! I can from 
my very heart of hearts say, with Patrick Henry, 
£ Give me liberty, or give me death ! 

She sat down and leaned her head for a 
moment on her hand, and then looking up with a 


MRS. JOHNSTON. 


277 


sweet smile, said : “ Excuse, madam, if you blame 
my love for freedom ; it is the first time I have 
ever dared to open my heart to a human being, 
upon a matter that has preyed as fire upon it, 
all my life. I feel better now. I have given 
utterance to thoughts that I never before have 
had freedom enough to breathe aloud ; and although 
in jail, I have greater liberty than ever I enjoyed 
before. It makes me happy to talk upon the 
subject, but I fear I weary you ? ” 

“Not at all, not at all,” said Mrs. Johnston: 
“ I could listen for hours, for your words sink into 
my heart. Oh ! if I could only do something to 
aid you, how happy it would make me. Will not 
Mr. Scott sell his claim to you ? ” 

“ I am sure he will not. I have often heard 
him say, that he would not part with me upon 
any terms; and no one has ever even dared 
to make such a proposition to him.” 

“Do you think you will be free?” inquired 
Mrs. Johnston. 

“ I do not know. I have a presentiment that 
I shall. I heard the argument of Mr. Ives, and I 
am sure he is right ; but whether the judge will 
so determine, of course, I cannot know. When 
Mr. Scott first talked of going to Virginia, my 
own heart told me, that by some means, I knew 
not how, my freedom would be the result of that 


278 


BELLE SCOTT. 


visit. I still believe it as firmly, as I do the 
words of inspiration. It has always seemed as a 
spirit speaking within me, and assuring, and com- 
forting me. It was that, that led me to leave the 
boat at the first opportunity. If I reason upon 
the subject, all becomes confused, and no way 
seems now to be open ; but when I sit still in my 
cell, or lie awake at night, it whispers — sometimes 
I fancy almost audibly — and assures me, that I 
shall soon be free. And I love the silence and 
solitude of this jail, for that very reason. It 
seems as if I am not alone, but that another, a 
purer and a wiser one, is with me, comforting me 
with new hopes and assurances, that all at last 
will be well.” 

Mrs. Johnston wiped her eyes and said, “ Belle, 
I am sure it will be so. I can no more tell how 
than you, but while you have been talking, a voice 
in my own heart has whispered ; she will be free.” 

“Good-by, dear Belle, I will come with the 
minister and see you when he makes his morniDg 
visit to the jail. He is deeply interested in your 
welfare, and since he was here, he says that 'he 
can neither think nor talk of any other person 
than you ; and the solitude that you so much love 
will, I am sure, be sadly disturbed by calls from 
all the ladies of the neighborhood.” 

“ I thank them, indeed, for their sympathy. It is 


MRS. JOHNSTON. 


279 


wholly unexpected, and I fear, undeserved, but it is 
the first time in my life that I have ever been so 
treated. Oh ! affection from others, is at all times* 
the warm life-blood of a woman’s heart ; and when 
that heart has been dry and withered from child- 
hood, and exposed to the scorching heat of slavery, 
it is more precious than streams of living water 
in the desert to the traveler who is perishing with 
thirst.” 

Mrs. Johnston said, “I am sure, dear girl, you 
will be free. We have a nice school-house here, 
with a large grassy yard and a swing in it. We 
will have the school-house whitewashed inside and 
out and get you a school, and you must live here 
with us and teach the children. You will join 
our church, won’t you, Belle ? and be a member of 
our sewing circle, and we will all be so happy 
together.” 

« You forgot,” said Belle, “that I am called a 
colored person.” 

“ Oh I did forget that indeed, and now that it 
is forgotten I will try and never remember it any 
more. If you are colored, I am sure that you are 
whiter and better than a great many persons 
about here who are white. What church do you 
belong to ?” 

“ I am not a member of any society of Chris- 
tians. The churches where I have lived have 


280 


BELLE SCOTT. 


presented no attractions to a person who is 
claimed as a slave. I have wished for several 
years, for the companionship of Christians in 
church fellowship, but have been so situated as 
not to have it in my power.” 

Mrs. Johnston replied, “ Indeed you have 
suffered a great loss — the loss of the highest 
pleasure of life — but when you shall be discharged 
from this place and be free, then, if you please, we 
will receive you with open arms, for I am sure 
from your very countenance that you are a 
Christian — as good a one as the best of us.” 

“ Good-by, Belle, I will see you in the morning. 
It is getting quite late now and I must go. I 
have taken leave of you twice already. Put your 
little fingers through the grate again and let me 
shake them once more. I wish I could kiss you, 
but these bars prevent me. It is not the first 
time though that prison bars have separated per- 
sons who love each other.” 

Belle extended her taper fingers through the 
bars ; Mrs. Johnston seized them, held them for a 
minute, and wiping her eyes departed. As we 
passed through the door we could still see the 
little fingers shaking, as if to bid us farewell. 


CHAPTER XXXYI. 


MRS. JOHNSTON. 

Mrs. Johnston boarded with the Rev. Mr. 
Stillman, the minister of a church in the village. 
As she and Mr. Reed walked to his house, she said, 
“ Cannot you do something more for that beauti- 
ful girl ? It seems to me very strange that she 
should be in a jail ! She is not accused of any 
crime, and she owes nothing to Mr. Scott. He 
is her debtor for the work she has done for him. 
I thought that jails, in Ohio, were made to keep 
wrong-doers in. Mr. Scott ought to be in it — not 
Belle. And while I think of it, how does it hap- 
pen that our jail here is made a slave-pen ? I 
have often read descriptions of slave-pens, but 
always supposed, till now, that they were places 
far away from us — at least, that they existed only 
in the slave states. But here is actually a slave- 
pen in our village — and I am part owner of it too — - 
for only last year (she said it with a sigh) I was 
heavily taxed on my property to help build it. 
I have been told that James, the tavern-keeper, 
had the two women locked up in a room in his 

( 281 )’ 


282 


BELLE SCOTT. 


house, and kept them there for an hour or two, 
till the warrant could be made out. If any one of 
my tenants should permit any such thing* I would 
turn him out at the end of his term, and never 
let him have a house or farm of mine upon any 
condition. A grog-shop is bad enough, and they 
say that James does really sell liquor, but when 
in addition to that, the tavern is made a slave-pen, 
it is a nuisance, and the tavern-keeper who does 
so, should not be licensed again.” 

The beautiful young widow was quite animated 
while she made this speech — and stopping for a 
moment, and raising one finger of her little hand, 
she said : 

“ Oh ! if I were a man, I would soon see by 
what authority, we people in Ohio have our pro- 
perty taxed, to build slave-pens for slaveholders ! 
I would soon have all laws, that allow such out- 
rages upon our rights, and such insults to our prin- 
ciples and feelings, repealed.” 

“But, madam,” said Mr. Heed, “you forget 
that courtesy to our sister states requires us to — ” 

Mrs. Johnston interrupted him: “Courtesy, 
courtesy indeed, to keep a woman in jail ! at the 
request of some brute of a man who claims to be 
her owner ! So then, if I were in Kentucky, and 
you requested somebody to put me in jail, courtesy , 
as you call it, would require that I, and not you, 


THE SLAVE-PEN. 


283 


should be imprisoned ? If there is any courtesy 
to be exercised in the matter, it seems to me, that 
it would be better to seize and imprison Mr. 
Scott, and not the poor victim of his wrongs.” 

“But she is said to be a negress.” 

Mrs. Johnston: “She is not, you have only 
to look in her face, and you will see there is not 
one word of truth in the assertion. Even if she 
is, I cannot see what courtesy there can be in 
making our jails the prisons of a race, which, of 
all others, has been most deeply wronged.” 

The next day nearly all the men left the vil- 
lage early in the morning, to go about seven miles 
in the country to hear a political speech. 

Mr. Wilbar, the blacksmith, could not leave, 
“ because,” he said, “ it was his busiest day of’ the 
week.” Two or three storekeepers, and two assist- 
ants remained; one tavern-keeper, a carpenter, 
and four young men, his apprentices and journey- 
men were, with Mr. Reed, all the men who did not 
go out to the meeting. 

The village had all the quietness of Sunday : 
the wind was blowing freshly from the south-west, 
about three o’clock in the afternoon. Mr. Reed 
was the sole occupant of the printing-office. As he 
was distributing type at the case, he thought he 
heard a cry of fire ! he paused and listened, and 
again in a shrill voice, as of a woman or a boy, 


284 


BELLE SCOTT. 


he distinctly heard the alarm, Fire ! fire ! fire ! 
Without waiting to put on his coat, or to roll down 
his sleeves, he sprang down the stairs, and ran as 
fast as he could, toward the black column of 
smoke now plainly visible. As soon as he turned 
a corner, he saw with horror, that it was the jail. 
The wind was blowing freshly, directly upon the 
fire, which spread so rapidly, that by the time he 
reached the place, the whole roof was in a blaze. 
Just as he got there, a little son of the jailer, 
about four years old, appeared at the north-eastern 
window of the building, crying for help. The 
stairs were already on fire ; so much so, that it 
was impossible to ascend them. The only means 
for rescuing the child was, by placing a ladder 
against the wall, and taking him from the window. 
The flames were rolling and roaring in thick 
masses all along the roof, on both sides, and the 
wind was blowing the fire directly in the faces of 
those who tried to go up to the rescue. No 
ladder was at hand ; not a moment was to be 
lost. The carpenters soon brought one, and two 
of them, one after the other, ascended it nearly 
to the window ; but just as they reached it, a gust 
of wind blew down thick masses of flame and 
smoke, and they were driven back. The boy 
had now fallen upon the floor, and was suffocating. 
The intense agony of the mother, who stood below, 


THE FIRE, 


285 


struggling to release herself from those who pre- 
vented her from climbing the ladder — her shrieks — 
her agonizing prayers, her entreaties to the men 
to save, oh, save her son ! the groans, and cries 
of the women of the village, all of whom were 
there, and in tears ; some wringing their hands, 
others praying aloud, others running to and fro 
and calling for help, presented a scene full of awe 
and horror. 

Three efforts were made to reach the window, 
and at each time the ascending persons were 
thrown back by the rushing, whirling, devouring 
fire. The smoke rolled down in masses, black, 
and thick, and hot ; and amid it large flakes of 
fire were whirled by the wind in all directions. 
A shout was heard, u Stand back, men ! the roof 
is reeling, and will fall; ” and all the crowd, except 
those who held the half frantic mother, rushed to 
the opposite side of the street. In an instant a 
lad (a young carpenter) ascended the ladder with 
a hatchet in his hand; the wind for a moment 
had blown the flame away from the window ; with 
one crash the sash was driven in ; he disappeared 
for a second, amid the smoke, and then he was 
seen descending the ladder with the boy, who 
hung as if dead, in his arms, both with their 
clothing all on fire. A loud shout from the 
whole crowd, rang out. Mrs. Jackson rushed to 
24 




286 


BELLE SCOTT. 


the ladder, and before the young man had reached 
its foot, she clasped her child in her arms. 

Just then Mr. Reed inquired : “ Where are the 
prisoners ? ” and one loud shout went up from all 
the men and women there — “ The prisoners — the 
prisoners are burning to death !” A man ran to Mrs. 
Jackson, and shaking her by the shoulder, asked, 
“ Where are the keys?” Mrs. Jackson looked 
wildly at him, and then hugged her unconscious 
boy to her bosom. “ The keys ! — the keys, Mrs. 
Jackson — the keys of the jail, where are they ? ” 

“ Oh ! thank God my child is not burnt up — 
he is scorched badly — but he will not die — Oh ! 
no, he will not die, thank God ! — thank God he is 
safe.” 

“ The keys ! — the keys ! — where are the keys of 
the prison, Mrs. Jackson? the prisoners will burn 
up.” She still looked in a bewildered manner at 
the speaker, and again pressed her boy to her bosom, 
and kissed his blackened and blistered forehead. 

“Oh! he breathes — he breathes! — I feel his 
little heart beat. Henry — my Henry is not dead ! 
the poor boy is badly hurt ; but he will get well ; ” 
and she rocked herself to and fro, and gazed 
fondly on the face of her son. 

“ She has lost her reason for a time,” said Mr. 
Wilbar ; “ we have no time to lose ; come, men — 
come, come — who will follow me?” he shouted. 


THE FIRE. 


287 


“We must save the prisoners! ” Some men ran 
in to search for the keys, and returned, saying, 
“ they could not find them.” While they were 
gone, Mr. Wilbar and others threw down a panel 
of the fence, and tore from the ground one of the 
large posts. Into the holes, mortised for rails, 
they put three handspikes, and as many men as 
could hold them, rushed with the post into the 
jail. At the first blow they surged upon the iron 
door, a shriek was heard from the crowd out- 
side — a cry that the rafters were falling — and a 
shower of fire, ashes, and dust, filled the house. 
They still, with heavy surges, thundered their bat- 
tering-ram against the door, till a crash was heard — 
the house was more full of fire and smoke than 
before, and the men all dropped the post and ran 
out. Part of the west side of the roof, shaken by 
the assault upon the door, had fallen in, and the 
flames rose and swept with redoubled fury over 
the building. All the windows in the second story 
were now filled with flame. Mr. Wilbar paused 
but for a moment, and- then shouted. “Back 
men — come back ! one more blow and the door 
will be opened. The prisoners are not dead yet. 
We can save them, and they must be saved.” 

Half-a-dozen men again rushed with him into 
the building, and again the blows of the battering- 
ram thundered against the door; but the cries 


% 


288 BELLE SCOTT. 

outside, were now louder than before ; the roof 
cracks — it reels — it is just about to fall; come 
out — come out, you will be burned in an instant.” 

Again all rushed out ; two of the party, over- 
powered by the heat, fell in the street and were 
carried to the sidewalk ; others were on fire, and 
water was thrown over them. After a moment’s 
pause — an instant of apparent indecision — Mr. 
Wilbar again called, “ Come back — come back ! 
we must save them — we can — we must ! ” and 
rushed again into the building. 

Three only followed him now : again they seized 
the post, and again, with all their force, heaved 
another blow upon the iron grate. It shook — 
the whole house shook ; there was a louder shout 
without — a whirl ! — a rushing sound ! — a shower 
of living coals! and with a crash that seemed 
loud as an earthquake, the whole roof fell in ! 

Mr. Reed did not know how he got out. He 
was stunned and unconscious for a moment, and 
was roused by hearing Mr. Wilbar calling out 
again louder than before, “ Come on, men — come 
on ! the greatest danger is now over ; one more 
blow, and the door will be forced.” 

No one as yet moved : “ Come, men, for the 
love of God come ! if they were your brothers or 
your sisters, would you not help to the very 
last?” 


THE FIRE. 


289 

J list then some of the men who had been in 
the country, rode up at full speed. In an instant 
the post was again manned, and with the first 
surge the door flew open. Mrs. Jackson had now 
recovered her presence of mind ; she was again, 
by twenty voices at once, asked for the keys: 
she seemed abstracted for a moment, and then 
said : 

“I have forgotten where I put them.” She 
prayed, Oh God ! my God ! enable me to remem- 
ber where I have placed the keys ; then rising, 
she seized an old carpet that lay near her, — 
plunged it into a bucket of water, and wrapping 
it round her person, walked into the burning 
jail; got the keys, and placed them in Mr. 
Wilbar’s hand, just as the door of the hall was 
burst open. The door of a cell in which two 
boys were, was unlocked in an instant, and then 
the cell of Belle. All was darkness, and smoke, 
and stifling, roasting heat within it. 

Mr. Reed stumbled over her prostrate form, 
lying at the side of the door; he seized her in 
his arms: at that instant his head seemed to 
burst out to double its usual size ; his eyeballs 
appeared as coals of living fire; his ears rang 
with a hissing, singing noise ; his lungs seemed to 
be all in flame : he groped his way, feeling in the 
dark ; something obstructed his passage ; he 


290 


BELLE SCOTT. 


knew not what it was ; he pressed the still form 
of Belle closely, and reeled, and stumbled ; 
a hand grasped him — he heard the voice of 
Wilbar — he was on his feet; he heard a loud 
shout, as he passed the door, and amid flame, 
and dust and smoke, he fell ! Water was dashed 
on him, and for a moment he was conscious that 
he was sitting on the pavement, with a crowd of 
women and men around him. A boy taken from 
the jail, was stretched apparently dead upon the 
pavement; another was in a sitting posture, 
crying, “ Oh, mother ! oh, mother ! Oh, Lord ! 
oh, Lord ! to be burned to death ! Indeed I am 
innocent of this crime.” 

Groups of women were around them, fanning 
them, and pouring water on them. Mr. Reed 
again sank down, unconscious of all around him. 


CHAPTER XXXVII. 


EDGAR REED. 

Soon afterward the only consciousness he had 
was a sense, a dull, dreamy, constant sense of pain. 
He seemed to be roasting at a slow fire ; at inter- 
vals it would blaze up, and then he would roll as 
in a sea of flame. His brain, and the very marrow 
of his bones seemed to be masses of red-hot iron. 
By degrees it slowly subsided, and then he thought 
he was struggling through thorns that tore his 
flesh at each step, and incessantly stung him from 
head to foot. 

One day he awakened as from a dream, and 
found himself in a neat and well-furnished apart- 
ment, lying upon a bed as white as snow, and a 
lady — a stranger to him — sitting by his bedside, 
with a young child in her lap, and some sewing in 
her hands. As he looked at her she seemed sur- 
prised, and then with a smile, said : 

“ You have had a refreshing sleep, and are now 
much better.’' 

“ Where am I ? ” 

“You are at the house of Mr. Stillman, 1 he 

( 291 ) 


292 


BELLE SCOTT. 


minister. When you were hurt, we had both you 
and Belle brought here, and I am very glad to 
find you so much better.” 

“How long have I been here ? ” 

“ This is now the morning of the third day since 
the fire — you have been insensible till now.” 

She left the room, and presently returned with 
Mrs. Johnston. This lady looked pale and care- 
worn. 

She came to his bedside, and stooping over 
him, inquired if he was not much better. u You 
must not talk yet,” said she, “ but must be as quiet 
as possible, until you obtain permission from us 
to satisfy your curiosity. Mrs. Stillman is your 
nurse, and I am the nurse of poor Belle.” 

“ How is Belle ? ” 

“ Oh ! you must not say a word. Be still. I 
will sit down, and if I think you able to bear it, 
will tell you the whole story. (She sat down.) I 
was at the fire before you got there. I had no 
hope for Belle’s escape, and believed that in half 
an hour she would be burnt to death. I never 
had such horrible feelings. I could not live, I 
think, through another such trial. 

“ When the great iron gate was broken open, 
and the two lads were brought out, I knew that 
you would not return without Belle. It seemed 
as if you were in there half an hour, but I have 


EDGAR REED. 


293 


been assured it was not more than two minutes. 
Just as you left the cell with Belle in your arms, 
the sleepers of the second floor, and part of the 
floor itself, fell between you and the iron door. 
A part of it struck you on the head, and you fell. 
All outside were for an instant appalled, and gave 
both of you up as lost, when the brave and 
generous Mr. Wilbar wrapped himself in a wet 
blanket, although he was already badly burned, 
and scarcely able to walk, and went right into the 
blazing fire and brought both of you out. You 
walked out while he held your hand — but fell as 
soon as you got outside the door. Both you and 
Belle were carried over to the pavement, and 
water thrown upon you ; you revived for a moment, 
and then swooned away. We then brought both 
of you here, and have nursed you ever since. 
The neighbors, especially the young men from the 
two printing-offices, have been very kind to you, and 
we have always had more persons offer to sit up with 
you than would have been enough to attend five 
sick men. The doctor says that none of your 
bones are broken, though you are badly bruised, 
and have been burnt, but not so as to disfigure 
you. Oh yes! you will be able to sit up this 
afternoon, and walk across the room to-morrow, 
if you only take care of yourself, and not be rest- 
less and talk.” 

25 


294 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“How is Belle?” 

“I have just told you, that you must not talk — 
we will do all the talking. Two women, I think, 
can do enough of that. Belle is better ; she fainted 
very soon, and the doctor — Dr. Williams, do you 
know him ? he is a very skillful and attentive 
physician-— says, that was of great benefit to her 
and prevented her from inhaling the hot air ; 
which, he says, might have killed her. She was 
more hurt by the falling of the floor than you, 
but is not so badly burned as you are. The doctor 
says, that a great part of your hurts have been 
caused by over exertion in beating the door open. 
Mr. Wilbar and two other men have been confined 
to their beds, principally from the same cause, ever 
since; and nearly every one of the men, and 
several of the women who were at the fire, have 
been unable to attend to their business. It was 
an awful time, and we thank God that no lives 
were lost, while at one time, when the roof fell in, 
it really seemed as if all the prisoners, and six or 
seven men had perished. 

“ Belle is able to sit up in an arm-chair. As yet, 
the Doctor allows her to talk but little. But you 
know that you cannot keep a woman’s tongue 
entirely still, and she will talk in spite of all that 
we can do to prevent her. She was just inquir- 
ing for you, when Mrs. Stillman came in and told 


MRS. JOHNSTON. 


295 


us, you were awake, and sensible of what is 
passing around you. In a few days, both of you 
will, I hope, be well again. You are a brave man, 
and saved that poor girl’s life; and the whole 
country is praising the bravery and generalship 
of Mr. Wilbar. No one expected it of him, or 
thought that he was more than an ordinary man ; 
but the occasion brought out his energies, and 
has shown that he is a hero.” 

They recovered rapidly. Still, neither of them 
were able to leave their respective rooms. Great 
solicitude existed in the minds of all of Mr. Still- 
man’s family, and of Mr. Reed, for the fate of 
poor Belle. What would be the decision of the 
commissioner? Could he appreciate the argu- 
ment of Mr. Ives ? Even if he did so, had he 
nerve enough, in opposition to wide-spread public 
opinion, to discharge his duty? or would he 
decide the case against her, and shield himself 
from perhaps the upbraidings of his own con- 
science, and the censure of the best of the 
community, by appealing to the authority of 
superior judges? 

“ If the case should be decided against Belle, 
what,” said Mrs. Stillman, “do you think Mr. 
Scott will do with her ? He is no doubt irritated, 
perhaps very angry at the attempt of Belle to 
escape. She says, that his prevailing vice is 


296 


BELLE SCOTT. 


avarice; and it is reported in the village, but I 
really do not know upon what authority, that Mr- 
Scott said, as he was leaving the place, ‘ that he 
would have to sell her, to pay the exorbitant 
fees of his attorneys in the case/ Do you think, 
if she should still be sick, when the ten weeks are 
out, that he will force her away from us, and sell 
her ? Mr. Stillman became her bail in two thou- 
sand dollars, for her appearance and re-delivery on 
the day when the decision shall be made. Would 
it not be better to forfeit the bail, although it 
would utterly ruin us as to this world, than even 
to run the risk of her returning to slavery ? ” 

Mrs. Johnston said, “For my part, if I were in 
her place, I would run away again ; and if I could 
not run off, I would creep off. She says, she 
would rather have been burned to death, than 
return, even to the slavery that has been her lot. 
If she should go, and Mr. Stillman loses anything 
by it, he has friends who, perhaps, will see that he 
shall not be ruined.” 

Two days after this conversation, the folding- 
doors that separated the parlors in which Belle 
and Mr. Reed respectively were, were thrown 
open — the blinds of the windows withdrawn, as 
Mr. Reed’s weakened eyes could now endure the 
light — and Belle, seated in a large arm-chair on 
castors, was brought into his room. He had told 


MRS. JOHNSTON. 


297 


Mrs. Stillman and Mrs. Johnston detached parts 
of his adventure on the island, and they had 
repeated them to Belle. He was now to relate 
the scene of Aaron’s death ; and she was brought 
in, to hear it directly from himself. 

When he told them that Aaron gave him his 
Bible, all three spoke out at once : " Let us see 

that Bible?” He replied, "It is in one of my 
trunks at the tavern.” 

" Your trunks are all here,” said Mrs. Stillman, 
" Mrs. Johnston ordered them to be brought here 
on the day of the fire.” Mrs. Johnston blushed 
slightly. He told them in which trunk it was. 
The book was soon produced and eagerly examined. 

" What is this writing on the blank leaves of 
the book?” Said Mrs. Johnston, "it is even 
worse than that of Mr. Peters, my lawyer. Did 
you ever see such a scrawl ? It must be poetry, 
too, for I see that every line begins with what is 
meant for a capital letter, and all the words run 
together.” She examined it with care, leaf by 
leaf, and then said, " I can here and there make 
out a word, but not enough even to conjecture the 
meaning.” Mrs. Stillman examined it with no 
better success. She could decipher some words 
that Mrs. Johnston could not. 

" What did Aaron tell you this was ? ” she 
inquired. Mr. Reed told her Aaron said it 


298 


BELLE SCOTT. 


was a statement of his wife, written down by 
himself just before her death, in relation to the 
murder of a child for which she had been sold. 
Mr. Reed was lying, at the time, on a sofa ; Belle 
was near him in the chair, when the book was 
handed to her. “ I have been accustomed,” she 
said, “ to such muting ; the slaves on the planta- 
tion frequently got me to write letters for them 
and to read theirs. Bring me, if you please a 
pencil and a sheet of paper and I will try to read 
it; I think I can easily do so.” 

They were handed to her and she began, “ This 
here child that I am ’cused of killin’ I never did 
at all. I nursed it several months, and how could 
I kill it, for I loved it ? and my child was only six 
months older than this one. I put both children 
together — my child and this child — in one bed 
and went down stairs to supper ; when I cum back 
it was gone and my child was asleep where I left it. 

“ I don’t believe this here child is dead at all. 
I believe she is alive yet, and has been tuk some- 
where. Missus cum to me in jail and begged me 
to tell her all that I knowed about it. I told her 
that I knowed nothing at all about it — nor more I 
did. I never did kill that child in my life, nor 
anybody else’s child; and I have been unjustly 
dealt by in the selling me away off into this wild 
country, among sich people as is here.” 


THE DISCOVERY. 


299 


“ Bravo ! Belle,” said Mrs. Johnston, “ you ought 
to go to Nineveh and help Layard, or to Egypt 
and decipher the hieroglyphics there.” 

“ Go on,” said Mrs. Stillman, “I feared, when 
you began, that it was a confession of murder, 
and I am now relieved.” 

Belle smiled and proceeded. “ This here child I 
nursed a good while. (She has put that down 
twice said Mrs. Johnston, it must be true.) It 
had a mark as big as a cherry, and of a whitish 
red on its left arm, just at the elbow.” 

Belle’s pale cheeks turned paler. “That is 
strange,” she said ; and rolling up the sleeve of her 
dress, showed a mark on her arm exactly like the 
one described. The ladies carefully examined it, 
and looked over Belle’s shoulder as she found out 
the several letters, so that they could see them 
for themselves. 

“ Go on, Belle — go on,” said the impatient little 
widow, Mrs. Johnston : “ she had a mole on her 
upper lip, near the corner of her mouth, and about 
half an inch above it.” Both the ladies exclaimed : 

“Why so have you, Belle, just such a mole, and 
just where it is said to be ! ” 

Poor Belle turned still paler, and her trembling 
hand was scarcely able to trace the letters ; her 
eyes, too, were dimmed with tears. Mrs. Stillman 
was composed. Mrs. Johnston changed her seat 


300 


BELLE SCOTT. 


several times, and finally stood up again and 
looked over Belle’s shoulder. 

“Go on,” said she, “let us have it all as soon 
as possible.” “ She had three moles on the right 
side of her neck below her right ear, and they 
were so that they looked like a little flatiron.” 
The pencil dropped from Belle’s hand — she had 
fainted. Without attempting to revive her Mrs. 
Johnston ran to the side of her neck, and there 
was the triangle described. Was she the lost 
child of Mr. Scott ? — the niece of the man who 
claimed to be her master? — the heiress of the 
large estate he had gone on to inherit? There 
was another passage in the book, but it was so 
obliterated that no one could decipher it. 

Mrs. Johnston, without waiting even to tell 
what she was about to do, put on her bonnet and 
went directly to the house of the commissioner. 
She soon returned with her brow knit, and her 
bright blue eyes flashing with anger: without 
taking off her bonnet, she seated herself and 
said : 

“Don’t you think that, after my trouble in 
going to see that man, I have come back without 
any paper by which Belle can be released. He 
would not even read the book which I took with 
me, though I assured him that now, when we knew 
what the writing was about, it was easy to read it. 


MRS. JOHNSTON. 


301 


When I found that, with all that I could do, he 
would not read a word of it, or even look at it, I 
told him all that has just occurred, and how cer- 
tainly her identity, as the lost child of Mr. Scott’s 
brother, is established. He did not want to hear 
even that, but I made him listen ; and when I 
got through and asked him if he had now any 
doubt about the matter, he would not answer my 
question. I asked him to let Belle go free at once, 
but he promptly refused. All that I could get 
him to promise was, that if Mr. Scott’s lawyer 
consented to his reading this writing, and examin- 
ing the marks on Belle, he would do so. A pretty 
judge, indeed, who won’t look into the truth unless 
the person whose interest is opposed to his know- 
ing it, will let him ! If we women only had the 
making of laws for a day, we would soon sweep 
away all these follies. But you wise men have 
the power, and use it to suit yourselves. 

This discovery seemed to have almost wrought 
a cure upon both Belle and Mr. Reed. 

Within a day afterward, Mr. Reed was able 
to walk across the room, with the aid of a cane. 
The news soon spread through the village, and 
in the evening Mr. Herbert, the chaplain of the 
jail ; Mr. Wilbar, the blacksmith, and many others 
were seated in Mr. Stillman’s parlor. The marks 
were examined, and each, now that the context 


302 


BELLE SCOTT. 


was known, could read the scrawl in the book. 
No one doubted but that Belle was the identical 
person described in the writing ; and that writing 
had upon it such evidences of its antiquity, and 
even of its genuineness, that none were able to 
doubt the statements. 

But what was next to be done, was the great 
question of the evening ? A dispatch was sent by 
the telegraph, to a lawyer in Willoughby, stating 
that the lost child of Mr. Scott, was found, and 
employing him to act as her counsel. They then 
wrote a full statement of the whole affair, and 
sent it to him by mail. Mr. Reed suggested, 
“that some one should go immediately to New 
Orleans, and begin to search for evidence of Belle’s 
identity at that place, and employ suitable agents 
there, to prosecute the search; and then go on to 
Willoughby, and commence similar inquiries there; 
and in the meantime, to write fully to the lawyer 
at Willoughby, and urge him to make inquiries 
into the matter, with all possible diligence.” 

Mrs. Stillman said, “ There was not sufficient 
time, to go both to New Orleans and Willoughby, 
before the time set by the commissioner for his 
decision of the case, would expire.” 

Mr. Stillman said in reply, “Now, that God 
has begun this good work, He will carry it on to 
the end : this discovery is providential.” 


MRS. JOHNSTON. 


303 


Mrs. Johnston said to Mr. Reed, “ I am sure 
you can succeed in establishing her right. After 
the perils you have encountered to save her life, 
and your success in that, I am sur£ that you can 
if you will, do what is needed in her behalf; but 
you are too weak yet to travel, and must not 
think of it ; some other person must go, till you 
get well enough to attend to it.” 

Mr. Reed thanked her, and told her, “ that he 
had made up his mind, to start with the first 
descending boat to New Orleans ; and would go at 
all hazards, ev,en if the boat passed down that 
night. That his health was such, that he could 
not labor, and the journey, he was sure, would 
restore him. 

Belle said nothing; but her look — one long, 
earnest look — told me more distinctly than any 
language could, how full her heart was of gratitude. 

Mr. Reed’s trunks were already packed ; and 
early the next morning, the sound of a boat was 
heard round a bend in the river. He was carried 
to the landing on a settee, by Mr. Stillman and 
others, and was soon on board. In a few minutes, 
he was on his journey. By the time he arrived 
at New Orleans, he was almost well ; Mr. Stillman 
had imparted to him a large share of his confi- 
dence in the result of his mission. He could not 
doubt, but that he would succeed. 


CHAPTER XXXVIII. 


EDGAR REED. 

The first person, and indeed, the only one he 
looked for, after he reached his former boarding- 
house, in New Orleans, was Captain Carter, who 
had changed his boarding place, and the landlady 
could not tell where he could be found. Mr. Reed 
knew a cafe, that he was in the habit of visiting. 
Early in the evening he went there, and seated 
himself in one of the boxes, with a broiled bird 
before him. In a few minutes two gentlemen 
came in. One of the gentlemen ordered refresh- 
ment. Mr. Reed did not know his voice. In a 
little while he could not but overhear the words : 

“When I was a boy, I shot four deer one morning, 
near Little Egg Harbor, in Jersey, and I will tell 
you how it was.” Of course it was his old friend, 
Captain Carter. As soon as he had inquired after 
Mr. Reed’s health, and before he had time to 
reply, he said : 

“ How many deer did you kill on your hunting 
excursion ? you staid longer than you expected • 
what luck had you ? ” 

“ Ho you remember, captain, that you promised 
( 304 ) 


CAPTAIN CARTER. 


305 


to eat all the deer that I killed ? Well now, 
prepare to keep your promise. I killed seven, 
and wounded several others. 

“ Where are your deer ? let me see them. You 
know that I am a man of my word ; I will eat the 
whole of them, only you must let me take my 
time to do it. I did not say how soon I would do 
it. And then looking archly, he said : “ You don’t 
expect me to eat the wounded ones, do you ? ” 

“ Oh ! no,” not until I bring them to you. 

“ Come, show me the deer ; it does me good 
to look at a lot of good venison, even if I have had 
no hand in killing it.” 

Reed told him that he had sold them for twenty 
dollars, to the clerk of the steamboat Pocahontas, 
as she was descending the river. 

“ Did you indeed ? then I have already kept 
my promise, in part, for I have been eating of that 
venison ever since it came into market.” 

They seated themselves in a box, where they 
could not be overheard, and Reed then related 
to him briefly the matters of wdiich the reader is 
already apprised, respecting Belle. After he got 
through with his narrative, Captain Carter fairly 
leaped to his feet : 

“ What ! the old wretch, to make a slave of a 
white girl— a young lady — his brother’s only 
child ! he ought to be hung without judge or jury. 


306 


BELLE SCOTT. 


I have known, for ten years, that he is a knave. 
You know that I have dealt for many years in 
fine horses — I had a pair of as beautiful bays 
as ever were hitched in harness. They were 
small, with fetlocks as clean and as slim as your 
wrist, and legs like a deer. They had small and 
beautiful heads, and carried them as blooded horses 
should ; thick black manes, and broad, full tails ; 
they were well coupled — as sound as a dollar, and 
as gentle as dogs. I sold this pair of horses to 
Scott for a thousand dollars ; when I did so, I told 
him they were well broken and sound. He paid 
me the money, and in less than a month, one of 
them, by the carelessness of his driver, got hurt. 
What did the old scamp do then, but write me a 
note, stating that the horse was unsound, and that 
I must have known it when I sold it. This 
wounded me— it touched me on a tender point — 
for as I deal in horses for profit, much depends 
upon my reputation for honor in my sales. I re- 
turned his money instantly, took back the horses, 
and in less than a month had the one that was 
hurt as well as ever, and sold the pair for fifteen 
hundred dollars. I thank him for his meanness. 
It was five hundred dollars in my pocket ; but 
still I know the man. I never sold a better pair 
of horses in my life, except a pair of blue roans 
that I bought in Arkansas — they were. 


CAPTAIN CARTER. 


307 


“ Captain Carter, let me interrupt you ? please 
excuse me for doing so, my business is urgent? ” 

“ Well,” said he, “what can I do for you ? ” 

“ I want you to help me find the evidence of 
this young lady’s identity and heirship. There 
is no time to be lost.” 

“ Let me see,” said Captain Carter : “ How old 
is she ? ” 

“ Twenty-two,” 

“ What name did Scott give her ? ” 

“Arabella Robinson, was what she stated it to 
be at the trial.” 

“ When did she come on the plantation ? ” 

“ When she was about six years of age ; which 
must have been sixteen years ago.” 

“Who brought her there ? ” 

“I do not know.” 

“ Where was she brought from ? ” 

“ I do not know ; except that when she was a 
child, not more than three years old, she was 
stolen at Willoughby.” 

“Who stole her?” 

“I cannot tell.” 

“ Is she handsome ? ” 

“ Yes, beautiful, tall and graceful ; with black 
hair, black eyes, fine lips, nose and chin, and a 
beautiful set of teeth, white as pearls.” 

“Does she look like Scott?” 


308 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ Her hair, eyes and, skin, are certainly different 
from his, which, you know, are all light ; but her 
features bear so striking a likeness to his that 
before I knew better, I supposed she was his 
daughter.” 

“ The scent is quite cold,” said Captain Carter, 
“but an old hunter never will pause on that account, 
when he sees so many tracks before him.” 

The next day we drove out to Mr. Scott’s 
plantation. “ We must be cautious,” said Cap- 
tain Carter, “but we must begin here; this is 
the starting point.” He inquired for the over- 
seer ; we were told that he had gone to the city. 
We then walked out around the quarters, and saw 
an old woman — one of the slaves of the planta- 
tion. Captain Carter shook hands with her as an 
old acquaintance, and placed, as he did so, several 
pieces of silver in her hand. 

“ Lord bless you, massa ! I do not know you, 
but you knows me. I forget all my ole friends.” 

“Never mind,” said the captain, “here is a 
young friend, who wants to inquire for Miss 
Belle.” 

“ Miss Belle is gone to ole Virginia — down to 
ole Willoughby, whar I come from when I was 
young ; whar I ’s got four children living now, I 
s’pose.” 

“ You know Miss Belle then, do you ?” 


CAPTAIN CARTER. 


309 


“ Why lor’, massa ! how can I help but know the 
child ? I ’s known her ever since she came here.” 

“ Who brought her ? ” 

“ Ay there, you ’re ahead of me. All that I 
know is, that one time when I went in the great 
house, I saw her thar — a pretty little thing she 
was too. But here comes Liza; she, may-be 
knows, for she was house- servant then. Eliza 
came up — Uncle Joe shook hands with her too, 
and dropped a piece also in her hand. Eliza 
looked as greatly surprised as Molly, the old 
woman, had. 

“Liza,” said she, “this gentleman wants to 
know who brought Miss Belle here, when she first 
came in dis here place ; does you know ? ” 

“I don’t know,” replied Eliza: “she was 
fetched here in the night ; but this I does know, 
that a month before she came, massa sent down 
to the city for Williams, the soul-driver, to come 
out and see him ; when he came, we was all so 
scared, ’cause we thought some of us was gwine to 
be sold. Then he came again, and staid all night. 
He came in a carriage this time. The next 
morning Miss Belle was here.” 

“ Thank you, Liza,” said Captain Carter : 
“ good-by.” 

As soon as we were seated in our carriage, 
Captain Carter said: “This girl was brought 

26 


310 


BELLE SCOTT. 


here by Williams. Scott must have heard of her, 
and sent him for her. He was gone a month ; 
perhaps not all the time on this errand. Her 
true name is Arabella Scott ; when she came here, 
she bore the name of Robinson. Williams bought 
her from some person by the name of Robinson ; 
that person did not live in these parts. Did she 
tell you who this Robinson was ? ” 

“ Yes, she told me that she lived, at her earliest 
recollection, with a Mrs. Robinson, a widow, on a 
small plantation in a pine hill country; but in 
what county or state, she could not tell. I told 
her where I had been hunting, and described the 
country ; and she said, that she had an indistinct 
recollection of having seen just such a country.” 

“ That will do,” said the captain, “ I’ll go right 
there.” 

Mr. Reed now made arrangements with him, 
that he should pursue the search with the utmost 
diligence, and write to him the result, as often 
as he could; and if he met with any evidence of 
value, if possible to bring the witnesses with him 
to Auburn, whatever might be the expense of 
doing so ; assuring him that if they were success- 
ful, the young lady would have ample means to 
repay all his expenditure, and to reward him for 
his labor. To these terms he cheerfully agreed. 
Mr. Reed was soon on his way to Willoughby. 


CHAPTER XXXIX. 


MARY SCOTT. 

Mr. Ives recovered so far that he was able very 
soon to dine with Mary Scott. She was enter- 
taining him with an incident that happened to 
her fortunes since she came to Willoughby. 
Among the slaves that her father obtained from 
her uncle’s estate, was a beautiful boy, about six- 
teen years of age, named Lewis. She described 
him as yellow as gold, with flowing, glossy-black 
hair, and large lustrous eyes, full of activity and 
intelligence for a person in his condition. Within 
a few days after he became her property by the 
gift of her father, the boy ran away, and was 
trying to escape to the free States, or to Canada. 
No doubt, she said, he had been persuaded by 
some wicked person to do so; she did not see 
why. he should have thought of such a thing, as 
he had always been w f ell-treated, had plenty of 
food and clothes, and light labor. Nothing 
therefore but some mischief whispered in his ear 
by some vagabond, could have led him to take so 
rash, so sad a course. He was re-taken and in a 

( 311 ) 


312 


BELLE SCOTT. 


few clays she sold him to a gentleman who had 
taken him into the interior of the state. 

“Sold him !” said Mr. Ives, “you, you, Mary! 
you sold him?” 

“Yes, I have just told you I sold him; I got 
nine hundred dollars for him, and might have got 
twelve hundred if he had not diminished his 
value by his freak in running away.” 

“ You sold him Mary ? I can hardly believe 
my own senses ! You sold him ?” 

Mary looked surprised by the intense feeling, 
and the energetic, though lowly spoken words of 
Mr. Ives, and saw that he was deadly pale. He 
trembled — his very lips were white. “ You , 
Mary ! you sold a boy, a fellow man, human flesh 
and blood.” 

The matter was too serious now to be concealed. 
The guests did not hear his words, but they saw 
that he was ill. He was assisted from the table, 
and taken in a carriage to his hotel. His fever 
returned with increased power, and all now feared 
he would die, but after several days of suspense, 
he slowly recovered. 

Mary did not visit him. His language seemed 
filled with reproaches. She thought that he 
intended to wound her feelings ; to reproach her. 
Sometimes too she thought that he was at least 
indelicately interfering with her acknowledged 


MARY SCOTT. 


313 


right to control her property. That at least he 
might postpone, until he became united with her 
in its ownership. The language seemed singu- 
larly strange for one so careful of the feelings 
of others as was Mr. Ives; so studious of pro- 
priety in all his attentions to her. Was it the 
lingering fever that disturbed his senses and 
now broke out again with increased force ? After 
some days of unhappiness she came to this con- 
clusion, and half pardoning, again visited him. 
He was again in his room upon the sofa, and 
alone and half uncared for ; and again when she 
saw him, her heart, in spite of all her reasonings, 
forgave him, 

“Henry, I have heard that you have been 
very ill indeed. I feared each day that I should 
hear of your death ; but now you will recover. 
What have you been thinking of while you were 
sick and alone ?” 

“Of you, Mary, when I had power to com- 
mand my thoughts, and of Lewis in all my 
hours of delirium.” 

“ Of Lewis ! and for hours at a time, Mr. Ives ?” 

“ Yes, I have, wholly without effort on my part, 
been thinking of Lewis ; the boy that you sold.” 

“Tell me what you thought? I will not; 
indeed, I will not be angry with you again. I 
have made up my mind that you are, at least, a 


314 


BELLE SCOTT. 


little eccentric, and I will endure your vagaries 
for the sake of your good qualities. Tell me, Mr. 
philosopher, what you have been thinking about 
Lewis ? ” 

“ Mary, I will tell you a little now ; perhaps, at 
another time, more may occur to me.” 

“ I was burning with fever, and tossing restlessly 
upon my bed, and then became calm, and slept ; 
a half-waking, restless, feverish sleep, I saw the 
white cottage in the orange grove, shaded by tall 
trees, and surrounded by hundreds of blooming 
flowers ; I saw you at the door, wife — my wife — 
more lovely than ever, your eyes bright with wel- 
come, as you extended your hand to greet me : 
and then in an instant the whole scene was 
changed. The cottage, and all its trees and shrubs, 
and flowers, and the green grass on the lawn were 
all gone, and in their place a great desert of flat, 
wet sand, and in the place where the cottage stood, 
Lewis, alone, in chains, kneeling on the sand, 
and with outstretched arms praying for freedom. 
And then the scene changed, and Louis was not 
alone. Thousands, and tens of thousands — mil- 
lions of men, of all colors, and all in chains, old 
men and young men, old women and young women, 
and children, and infants in their mothers’ arms, 
stood around him, and chains fine as spider’s web, 
but firmer than steel, extended from Lewis, and 


THE DREAM. 


315 


fastened upon the fetters of every one of all that 
host of slaves, and strengthened and riveted their 
chains. They all kneeled and prayed for freedom. 

One came, who seemed to be a minister of 
mercy, for he had vowed to devote his whole being 
to God ; he looked with a cold, careless gaze at 
the sufferers, and passed on. 

“ Another came, and knelt and prayed : e Thy 
will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,’ and 
passed on his way. 

“Another came, and read from a book before him: 
‘ And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet 
robe ; and when they had plaited a crown of thorns, 
they put it on his head, and a reed in his right 
hand : and they bowed the knee before him, and 
mocked him, saying, ‘Hail King of the Jews!” 
And he, too, bowed the knee to Christ, but passed 
on, looking as he did so, without pity or mercy. 

“Another came, and shouted for freedom, and 
equality, and republicanism, and looked in his 
turn, and reviled, and hissed, and traduced, and 
defamed him ; and he, too, went on his way. 

“ Others, and still others, came. Some blessed 
the fetters that bound him, and others prayed that 
the links might be broken, but made no effort to 
do so.” 

« Well,” said Mary, “ that was really a curious 
dream ; it seems to me as if you were not all asleep 


316 


BELLE SCOTT. 


when you dreamed it. Your will, perhaps, con- 
trolled the gambols of your imagination. But 
what at last was the end of it ? ” 

“ I dreamed still, that as Lewis knelt and prayed, 
a fire came down and encircled him, as with a halo 
of golden light; and on it was written, ‘Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ 

“And then another flame also, encircled him, and 
on that was written, ‘Do unto others as you would 
that others should do unto you.’ His chains fell, 
and he stood up, a man, girded and protected by 
these great lights from the Throne of God. And 
other men gathered in crowds around him, and 
endeavored again to enchain and to enslave him ; 
but could not do so for these concentric circles 
of fire protected him; at length they burst 
through them, and while thunders muttered above 
their heads, and the sky was black with masses 
of moving cloulds, (through which I saw something 
like a great right arm outstretched,) and filled with 
thunder, they again enslaved him and led him off 
to the markets, where human flesh and blood are 
sold.” 

“ Well,” said Mary, “ that is a curious dream ; 
it seems to me there’s something in it. All 
dreams are not alike ; some are really remarkable, 
and you cannot help remembering them. But I 
have heard it said, that if you never tell your 


REFLECTIONS. 


317 

dreams, you will soon forget them, and never be 
troubled with them. I half wish you had not 
told this to me.” 

Mary went to her present home. The dream ; 
did he invent it, to rebuke her as gently as 
he could, but yet as strongly? Was it indeed 
wrong to sell her truant slave ? She leaned her 
head upon her hand, as she sat alone in the 
twilight in her chamber. She had sold the boy, 
but what of that ? her father, and her grand- 
father, had bought and sold slaves. The minis- 
ter of the church of which she was a member, 
bought some; and when occasion served, sold 
others ; many of the best members of the church 
had done so ; and why was it her duty to know 
more than these ? or to set up for herself a higher 
standard of duty than that adopted and practiced 
by those whom she most venerated on earth? 
True, she thought that the habitual dealing in 
slaves, could not but be wrong. The men whom 
she had occasionally seen engaged in that trade, 
were persons with whom she could not associate ; 
and she could not but condemn their conduct. 
But they followed the business for mere gain. 
She had not been controlled by such motives. 
If her boy had remained, she would have been 
kind to him ; but he ran off, and all her friends 
advised her to sell him. He was a slave before 
27 


318 


BELLE SCOTT. 


she sold him, he was only a slave now ; it was a 
mere transfer of ownership. The boy’s mother 
was dead, she knew nothing of his father, except 
only, that she had heard he had been sold two 
years before, and taken to Tennessee. Mr. Ives 
did not condemn her for holding Lewis as a slave, 
but only for selling him ! Where was the differ- 
ence between holding and selling him? If the 
one was right, the other could not be wrong, 
unless indeed, she had sold him to an unkind 
master ; but she had not done so ; the purchaser 
was kind, a gentleman of high character and well- 
known benevolence. 

But still in spite of all her reasonings, her 
heart was not at rest. “ He was my property,” 
she said ; and an almost audible voice answered 
her, “Who made man your property?” She 
started, and thought of the concentric circles of 
light, and the words of fire : “ Thou shalt love 
thy neighbor as thyself.” “Love a negro as I 
love myself? make my own rights, and feelings, 
and wishes, the measure of my duties to a negro ?” 
She sat still again, so still that her heart was 
almost silent; and rose, and said half aloud, 
“ They are God’s words. The common Father of 
the human race, lays the same duties, and confers 
the same rights alike upon all his children.” 


THE JOURNEY. 


319 


Early the next day, she sent a servant to 
inquire for Mr. Ives’ health, and when she was 
told that it had improved, she again sent the 
servant with a message, that business required 
her immediate absence, for a few days, from 
Willoughby ; bade him take good care of himself, 
and in an hour was in a stage-coach on her 
journey. 


CHAPTER XL. 


BELLE SCOTT. 

The hopes which were entertained of Belle’s 
speedy recovery proved to be delusive. Some 
permanent injury, that defied all remedies, seemed 
to have been inflicted upon her by the fire. She 
was not scarred nor were there any external 
marks of injury, but she was scarcely able to 
walk. Her spirits too became more sad each day, 
as the time drew near for the decision of her 
cause. She was sweet, and mild, her whole 
soul seemed to be bathed in an atmosphere 
of resignation, gratitude and love ; but at times 
she would start and grow pale, as if just awakened 
from a fearful dream. 

For a few days after the fire, the neighbors 
showed her much sympathy; some no doubt 
visited her merely from curiosity. But now 
things had resumed their usual course at the 
parsonage. The attraction of novelty had worn 
off. Mrs. Johnston was still the same devoted 
friend ; Mrs. Stillman still kind and hopeful. 
Mr. Stillman looked sad, and sometimes sighed, but 
( 320 ) 


GOSSIP. 


321 


he also looked firm ; as a man does, who knows he 
is right and is determined to persist in the course 
he has chosen. Why he was thus sad and thus 
firm will be more apparent from the following 
dialogue. 

The parties are Mrs. Upson, the hostess of the 
evening ; Mrs. Turton, Miss Williams, and Mrs. 
Jones, seated at the tea-table of Mrs. Upson, in 
the village of Auburn. 

Mrs. Jones. “How is that girl who was hurt 
at the fire ?” 

Mrs. Upson. “ Getting better; but she is unable, 
or pretends to be unable yet, to walk out of doors. 

Mrs. Turton. “ Well ! what is this world coming 
to ! Our preacher’s wife went up to Mr. Stillman’s 
last week, just to make a short call. Mrs. Still- 
man insisted on her staying to tea. She seated 
her, at the tea-table, right down by the side of 
that mulatto girl, Belle ; and she declares that the 
odor was so strong that she could not eat a bit ; 
and that poor Mrs. Stillman was so mortified 
that she could hardly look her in the face.” 

Miss Williams. “ Why, how can that be ? I have 
heard that she is a white girl and a great heiress. 
Indeed I have seen her, and cannot see a single 
trace of the negro or mulatto about her. 

Mrs. Upson. “ Oh ! that was a nice story got up 
by the Abolitionists here, only to get the girl off ; 


322 


BELLE SCOTT. 


but it did no good; it was hardly a nine days' 
wonder.” 

Mrs. Jones. “ And that pert little Mrs. John- 
ston, who was so vain of her wealth and beauty, 
has met with a sad fall; people are talking 
about her all over the town and neighborhood; 
they say that she eats with that mulatto and 
treats her as if she was a sister. I guess some 
people presume too much on their wealth and 
influence.” 

Mrs. Jones. “ Why, la me ! The whole country 
are laughing about that young widow and her pet 
mulatto. As for poor Mr. Stillman, I do pity 
him ! He and his wife are under the influence 
of Mrs. Johnston, because she contributes ten 
times more to their support than anybody else ; — 
they are afraid to offend her ; but on the other 
side old Mr. Rounds, who is one of the ruling 
elders of his church, called at our door yesterday 
and shook his head and said, that it did seem to 
him, their church never would have a settled 
pastor ; they have had four ministers in five years ; 
and now Mr. Stillman will have to leave, or the 
Church will be divided, as more than half his con- 
gregation entirely disapprove of his harboring 
that negro girl. 

Miss Williams: “I wish I were only able to 
make good to Mr. Stillman, all the losses he will 


GOSSIP. 


323 


sustain by his hospitality to that poor girl. His 
conduct seems to me eminently praiseworthy. 
He has taken care of the sick and the hungry — 
and proved himself, by his good deeds, a minister 
whose example is a commentary upon his public 
teaching.” 

Mrs. Upson . “ Well, my dear girl, no one blames 
him for his benevolence; we only censure him 
for his imprudence. He could have discharged 
all the duties you praise so highly, to the girl, 
without making her an inmate of his house, and a 
companion for his wife. He could have taken her 
to negro Tom’s house, just by his church, and 
Tom’s wife would have given her all the atten- 
tion she needs — and Mr. Stillman could have 
called daily, if he pleased, and seen that she wanted 
nothing. If he had done so, he would not have 
insulted and outraged so large a portion of his 
church members as he has done, by trying to 
break down the God-made distinctions between 
the white and the negro races.” 

Mrs. Jones : “ It’s a great pity, too, that he did 
so just at this time. His church, which had been 
distracted, and almost divided upon the liquor 
question, had become in a manner united, and are 
now more divided than before. It is plain that 
he will have to leave.” 

Miss Williams : “ I think if any church will not 


324 


BELLE SCOTT. 


let their minister take such persons into his family 
as he thinks best — the sooner he gets away, the 
better it will be for him. It may be worse for the 
church, but he will gain by the change.” 

Mrs. Upson : “ Oh ! you know, Jane, that a 
minister is a public person, and his example does 
more good or more harm than that of others. He 
ought, therefore, to be circumspect in proportion 
to his influence.” 

Mrs. Jones: “That word influence, that you 
have just used, reminds me, too, that another of 
the elders told me that Mr. Stillman, by his con- 
duct in this affair, has utterly, and perhaps, for- 
ever impaired his influence, especially over those 
that are without. He said that Col. Nippers, our 
state senator, used frequently to go and hear him 
preach ; but he declares he cannot do so consci- 
entiously, now that he has turned Abolitionist, and 
that many others are in the same state of mind. 
The influence of a minister is his most precious 
jewel, and one that he cannot take too much 
care of.” 

Miss Williams : “ I don’t know how it is, but 
I have observed that those ministers, who are 
always taking care of their influence, as they 
call it, are good for nothing else. I have never 
seen, in either the New or Old Testaments that the 
apostles and prophets were men who took care of 


GOSSIP. 


325 


their influence — so far from it, they, every one of 
them, seem at all times utterly to have disre- 
garded it, and discharged only the duty in hand, 
whether men would hear, or whether they would 
forbear — whether they were pleased or offended.” 

Mrs. Upson: “You are quite severe, Jane.” 

Miss Williams: “Indeed I am on this the 
greatest vice of our ministry. Taking care of 
their influence, is but a name, under which they 
cloak their cowardice and time-serving. The 
influence most cared for, is their conjectured in- 
fluence over the rich or the great. Whenever I 
hear a minister talk of taking care of his influence, 
I think at once, that it is but the mean wincing 
of a time-server, shrinking from known duty, 
under the pretense, which he generally knows to 
be false, of being more useful by leaving known 
duties undischarged. All such men are injurious 
to the churches, and the sooner they are turned 
out of the ministry the better.” 

Mrs. Upson and Mrs. Jones together : “ Why 
Jane, how you do talk.” 

Miss Williams : “ If a few others would talk sc 
too, and act also in the same spirit, our churches 
would not be as they are now, so cold and dead. 
The rule, fixed as the law of gravitation, ‘thal 
he who will save his life, shall lose it ; and he who 
will lose his life for the Gospel, shall save it;' 


826 


BELLE SCOTT. 


applies as directly to the influence of ministers, 
as to their lives ; and they all know it. As long 
as ministers are permitted, under the plea of 
preserving their influence, to stand aloof from 
unpopular Christian duties ; each in his turn may 
do so, and every duty be left undischarged. 
This vice, is the great maelstrom that draws 
down to death the usefulness of all who indulge 
in it. This practice, is the spendthrift’s promise, 
to pay principal and large interest next year ; 
while the debt is due now, and he can pay it if 
he will ” 


CHAPTER X L I. 


MARY SCOTT. 

Two men were in a parlor of a hotel. One of 
them was tall and handsome, his face showed 
marks of dissipation, but not of recent excess ; it 
was an old wound of which you saw the deep, 
broad scar. The other was younger — both looked 
like gentlemen. 

A servant came in and said to the elder 
gentleman: “Mr. Watts, a lady wishes to see 
you in the parlor ; and wants you, if you please, 
to wait a few minutes, and she will come in.” 

“Who is she? ” 

“I do not know,” said the servant: “she is 
young, and very pretty, sir. She came here 
only an hour ago.” 

“ Some person,” said Mr. Simmons, “ who has 
servants for sale, I suppose, sir.” 

“Probably so,” said Mr. Watts. “I know of 
nothing else, that could induce the lady to call 
on me. But to resume our conversation, I saw 
in a newspaper, an advertisement of a sale of 
slaves, which is to take place to-morrow in — — 

( 327 ) 


328 


BELLE SCOTT. 


county. Shall we go there to purchase ? Fifty- 
two are to be sold for cash, to the highest bidder.” 

“I, too, have, seen it,” replied Mr. Simmons, 
“ and knew the gentleman very well, when he was 
alive, whose property is now to be sold by his 
administrators. He was a distinguished preacher, 
whose name you have often seen in the news- 
papers. He wrote a great deal in support of 
slavery, and denounced the fanatics of the North 
with a degree of severity that made them wince 
and feel, to the core of their hearts, the sarcasms 
that dropped as vitriol from his pen.” 

“ Well, well ! ” said Mr. Watts, “ we ought by 
all means then, to attend the sale. We owe it to 
him as a debt of gratitude, to make his property 
sell as high as our competition can effect it, with- 
out injury to ourselves. I have often heard of 
the gentleman, but had not the honor of an 
acquaintance with him. Will you go ? or shall I ?” 

“Oh! do you go by all means. I am here 
among those who have known me from my child- 
hood, and could not bear to be seen as a trader 
purchasing slaves. You are almost a stranger 
here, and have been long accustomed to the 
business.” 

“I’ll go, sir,” said Mr. Watts, “but you really 
must get over the shyness that so afflicts you. 
You are a trader, and will have to share the losses 


MR. WATTS. 


329 


as well as to enjoy the profits of the trade. You 
never fail to pocket your share of the profits. 
I have received profits from the trade and losses 
too. I have lost nearly all my friends, and my 
self-respect.” 

“ You are in bad spirits this morning. Why 
should you lose your self-respect ? Was not 
your father a slaveholder, and your grandfather ? 
and were not all your ancestors slaveholders, as 
far back as you can trace your pedigree ? They 
bought slaves and held them and sold them ; and 
what are you doing now but buying and selling 
slaves ?” 

“Yes,” replied Watts, “that is true, but they 
were planters — not traders.” 

“I cannot see the difference between the 
planter who buys and sells, and the trader who 
does the same, except that the one does not 
make it his regular business, and the other 
does” 

“ Difference or no difference, in principle,” said 
Watts, “ there is at least a great difference in the 
looks of a thing. Nobody whose opinion is worth 
a rush, thinks the worse of a planter for selling a 
slave, or thinks slave-trading a respectable busi- 
ness. I cannot for the life of me see, why the 
distinction should be made, but it is made, and 
whether it is rightly or wrongly made, is no 


330 


BELLE SCOTT. 


difference to me. I feel, that I am in a lower 
position now than I was a year ago.” 

“ That may be all true, sir ; but even if it is so, 
you ought to conquer your prejudices. It is no 
worse to trade in slaves, than it is for a Northern 
judge to send one back again into slavery. No 
doubt, such judges feel themselves degraded and 
disgraced by such conduct; but they soon get 
used to it and learn to bear their misfortunes 
with due composure.” 

“ That may be, sir ; but nothing but the hope 
of making a fortune, and soon too, could make 
me continue in this business another day. I do 
hope, when I shall have made one or two hundred 
thousand dollars, to leave this business, and if 
possible, all my remembrances of it, and lead a 
quiet life on a plantation well stocked with 
slaves.” 

“That may be a bright hope, and I wish it 
may be realized; but, my dear sir, few persons 
who begin this trade ever leave it ; they continue 
in it till they die. It has its fascinations, as all 
other trades by which money is speedily made ; 
you buy and sell at a handsome profit till your 
reputation as an honorable trader is well known, 
and then you buy on credit, and have your notes 
to pay; and so it passes on from year to year 
until you become old, and rich, and die.” 


MR. WATTS. 


331 


“ Die a slave-trader !” said Mr, Watts with emph- 
asis. “ Die a trader, sir, I can never think of that.” 

“Well, that is strange; yon said but half a 
minute ago, that you wish to retire and live on a 
well-stocked plantation. Is it any more dreadful 
to die a slave-trader than to die a slaveholder? 
Thousands and tens of thousands of men in this 
country have so died, and who thought their fate 
a sad one ? Really, there may be a mighty dif- 
ference, but my vision is too obtuse to see where 
it lies.” 

“ Nor can I,” said Mr. Watts, “ but still I can- 
not endure the thought. I have had a fortune, 
and lost it, and must make another ; and no other 
way than this, seems open before me.” 

“ I, too, have lost a small fortune, but I do not 
feel as you do about the business. I have 
already made ten times as much as I had when I 
began life, and I intend to follow the business as 
long as I can make it profitable. I see no sense 
in a man’s living on a sugar plantation, and 
making four or five thousand dollars a year, when 
he can make twice that sum in the trade, with 
the same capital. A man can live in Richmond 
or New Orleans and send out his agent, if he 
chooses, to buy and sell for him. His life will be 
as easy as that of the richest planter, if he 
pursues that course ; and even if he attends in his 


332 


BELLE SCOTT. 


own person to the details of his business, his life 
is not much more laborious than is that of gentle- 
men who give personal attention to the affairs of 
their own plantations. I have no qualms of con- 
science about the thing. The trade in slaves is 
but the trade in one of the great staple com- 
modities of the United States. I have not the 
least objection to its being made as infamous as 
all the people in the world can make it. The 
fewer competitors the better for us. The more 
men you keep out of the business, the better 
it will be for those who remain in it. The 
infamy of the slave-trade, my dear sir, of which 
you complain so much, is really the greatest 
source of our profits. I have met in my time 
with hundreds of men who would gladly have 
engaged in it if they only dared to do so.” 

Here the conversation was interrupted by the 
entrance of a lady, who inquired for Mr. Watts. 

“I am the person,” said Mr. Watts, handing 
her a chair, “ can I be of any service to you to- 
day, madam ? ” 

“ Yes,” replied the lady. a I sold, some time 
ago, a mulatto boy to Colonel Rawlings, who told 
me he wanted him for a dining-room servant. 
I have since learned that he sold him to you. Is 
that so, sir ? ” 

“ I did buy a negro of Colonel. Rawlings, and I 


MR. WATTS. 333 

have no doubt, madam, it is the boy you sold him. 
He told me he had lately bought him.” 

“I wish to re-purchase the boy,” said the lady ; 
“ what is your price ? ” 

" Oh ! my dear madam, I make it a rule never 
to sell any, while I am on my route, or gathering 
up a gang. I buy in the northern slave-holding 
states, and sell, generally, at New Orleans. It 
would greatly derange my business to sell before 
I get my gang into the regular market.” 

“ But can you not sell one , sir ? I wish, espe- 
cially, to re-purchase this boy, and will give you 
any reasonable sum you may ask for him. I sold 
him inconsiderately, and greatly regret the act.” 

“ Was he not your property ? ” inquired Mr. 
Watts, with a keen, piercing look. 

“ I got him from my father,” replied the lady, 
"and regret that I have sold him. I have heard 
that you gave Colonel Rawlings nine hundred 
dollars for him, I will give you twelve hundred 
dollars, and you will thus make a handsome profit 
in a very short time.” 

“ There is nothing in the world I would not do 
to oblige a lady, except to break in on my settled 
rules of business. That I can’t do for any person.” 

“ But, sir, I feel that I have done wrong in sel- 
ling the boy, and wish to repair the injuries I 

have done him.” 

28 


334 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ Oh ! as for that, madam, it is only a feeling 
common to all persons who sell slaves, especially 
after they are relieved from the pressure that in- 
duced them to sell. When the money is spent, 
then they are sorry, and repent.” 

“ My money is not spent, sir, and my repent- 
ance proceeds from no such motive. Here, sir,” 
said she, “ laying on a center-table a roll of bank 
bills ; here is money enough to repay you all that 
you have paid to Colonel Rawlings, and more, so 
as to leave you a reasonable profit for your ne- 
farious business.” 

“ Nefarious business, madam, in which two must 
always be engaged ! ” replied Watts with half a 
sneer. “ Nefarious business ! but, however, a lady 
has privileges.” 

“ I feel the full force of your censure, and it is 
just. The buyer and the seller are, for a time at 
least, and in that transaction, equals. And be- 
cause it is so, I want to re-purchase the boy.” 

“ Well, madam, if that is your motive, we can- 
not engage in the same transaction. If it was 
wrong for you to sell to Colonel Rawlings, it must 
be wrong for me to sell to you. I cannot sell him 
to-day, madam.” 

“ Will you to-morrow then ? ” eagerly inquired 
the lady; “if you will, I will wait here till to- 
morrow.” 


BRIDGET. 


335 


“ No, madam, 1 have made up my mind, since 
I have been talking to you, to take him to my 
own plantation in Mississippi.” 

While this conversation was going on, a servant 
was busy in the room. The lady left the parlor, 
and in a few minutes heard a knock at her door ; 
the servant entered. 

“ Don’t cry, my dear leddy, don’t cry so. I 
I heard myself all that the ould thrader said to ye, 
and all that ye said til him ; don’t ye cry so ; me 
and Patrick is agoing away from here to-morrow, 
and Patrick, that’s my ould man, that is, shall fix 
it for you ; for all that ould Watts whouldn’t take 
yer money when you was in the parlor, as soon 
as you come out, he sat down and counted it, 
and put it in his pocket-book. I saw him with 
my own eyes ; so now he ’s took your money, and 
he ’ll be obliged to let you have the boy you 
want til buy. He can’t help himself now, miss.” 

“ Where is the boy ? ” said Mary, for it was she. 

" Oh ! he ’s in this very house, madam, up- 
stairs in the garret, and the dhoor’s locked ; and 
Patrick takes up victuals to them, and ’tends to 
them.” 

“ What ! is this tavern a slave-pen ? ” 

“ Oh no, dear miss ! it’s not exactly a slave-pen. 
I have been chambermaid in hotels in the free 
states ; they keep slaves locked up there, just as 


336 


BELLE SCOTT. 


they do here, in the taverns up-stairs, to keep 
’em from running away. I’ll get Patrick to 
come up here wid me and see you ; and sure you 
hardly would mind making us a little present, 
just for a keepsake, if Patrick helped the boy off, 
that you could get him again ? ” 

The next day Mary was riding in a stage. 
She passed a man driving a lean horse in a small 
wagon. He was sitting on a great box, apparently 
of goods, and behind him in the wagon, sat 
Bridget. The man, when he saw her, gave two 
or three heavy raps upon the box, and the stage 
was soon out of sight. 

Mary waited at Marietta, in Ohio, for her 
friends, Patrick and Bridget, to overtake her. 
The next day they crossed the river ; the box was 
opened, and Lewis leaped out. 

“ Now will not the dear leddy, make Patrick a 
handsome present? only think of the risk that 
he ran, and all to oblige the swate leddy. He 
wouldn’t have done it for any other person in this 
world, only for you.” 

“ Thank you, madam, God bless ye! I’ll 
remember ye forever ! This is a twenty dollar 
gold piece, I believe ? ” 

“ Yes, it is twenty dollars.” 

“ Is this for Patrick, or for me, madam ? ” 

“ For Patrick.” 


BRIDGET. 


337 


“ Now, you dear leddy, I am sure you’re not 
a-going to let Patrick have it all, when I’ve had 
just as much trouble as he ? ” 

“ Thank you, madam. That’s a ten dollar gold 
piece, is it ? God bless you ! We ’ll remember 
your leddyship forever.” 


CHAPTER X L I I . 


MR. IVES. 

“ Why have you not called sooner ? ” said Mr. 
Ives, "I have not seen you for ten days. It is 
really cruel, to treat me as you have done. I 
have been sick; I am yet unable to leave the 
house ; I have but few acquaintances here, and no 
friends except yourself; and the hours have passed 
heavily, with leaden weight, from your absence. 
Indeed I did not intend to offend you, by the 
remarks that I made about that boy. I was 
taken by surprise, and perhaps expressed myself 
in stronger terms than I should have used ; but I 
am sure you will forgive me.” 

“ Forgive you, indeed ! ” replied Mary, “ forgive 
you ! I thank you from my heart of hearts, for 
what you said, and for the terms in which you 
said it. I would not tell you where I was going, 
for fear that you would oppose me; and I had 
fully made up my mind to do what I have done, 
and so I thought it better to surprise you. I 
went, accompanied only by Julia, my servant, to 
the house of Colonel Rawlings, to whom I had 
( 338 ) 


MR. IVES. 


339 


sold Lewis, for the purpose of re-purchasing him ; 
and there learned that his declaration, that he 
was buying him only for a domestic, was a mere 
ruse; that he had sold Lewis but a few days 
before, to a soul-driver, who had taken him to the 
western part of this state. I had made up my 
mind to purchase him, if it was possible to do so ; 
and went on as rapidly as I could, until I found 
the trader. He refused to sell him to me, but I 
left on the table more money than he had given 
for him, and afterward got the boy safely off. 
He is now, I have reason to believe, in Canada. 
So that I have undone, as far as my efforts can 
effect it, the one great wrong of my life.” 

“You surprise me, Mary. You — you jour- 
neyed accompanied only by your maid, into the 
interior of the state, and then to the western part 
of it ? You went to a slave-trader, and re-pur- 
chased the boy ? you talked with such a man ? 
I never have been so surprised in my life.” 

“ There is nothing strange in what I have done, 
I thoughtlessly sold Lewis, and afterward saw that 
I had committed a great sin, and I determined, at 
every sacrifice of personal convenience, to undo the 
wrong. I felt, during every moment of my journey, 
a light heart, I knew that I was doing my duty, 
and that a good Providence was over, and pro- 
tecting me.” 


340 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ But could you not have done it as well by an 
agent ? ” 

6i No, not at all. No agent could have been 
filled with the same determined purpose to accom- 
plish the result ; and without such resolute pur- 
pose, the matter could not have been accomplished. 
I had personally sinned, and it was my duty, per- 
sonally, to retrieve the wrong. 

“ I had, too, another motive. I know that you 
are worthy of me, and I could not but feel humbled 
when I thought that I had made myself unworthy 
of you. My very pride would have been a suffi- 
cient motive for my conduct ; and that feeling, I 
am sure, had too much influence in controlling me.” 

“ You are a noble girl, Mary, and I shall love 
you, if possible, more than I have ever done, for 
your generous, though singular conduct.” 

As Mr. Ives and Mary will not re-appear upon 
our pages, the reader may wish to know the sequel 
of their history. 

That they were married soon after the conver- 
sation just related, my lady readers need not be 
told. But Mr. Ives could not return again to 
New Orleans, for all hope of a prosperous life there, 
was at an end. The slaves of Miss Mary Scott 
were all liberated. They were not turned out 
.among strangers, to begin the world for themselves 
without the means of a comfortable subsistence. 


HOME. 


341 


They were brought to a free state, and there, upon 
well-stocked farms that Mary and her husband 
carefully aided them in selecting, were all settled. 
School-teachers, and the means of religious educa- 
tion were provided for them, and with many 
blessings from the old and young — blessings be- 
stowed and received with eyes filled with tears — 
Mr. and Mrs. Ives left their friends, after promising 
to visit them often, and urging them to write, or 
cause letters to be written to them if anything 
should occur that might require their attention. 

They then purchased for themselves a neat farm 
in Pennsylvania, and there, surrounded by kind 
neighbors and friends, they live in peace. Books, 
and flowers, and music, gladden their passing 
hours, and their home is filled with sweetness and 
love. Love to God and man fills their hearts, and 
the whole atmosphere around them. 


CHAPTER XLIII. 


SUSPENSE. 

The winter passed rapidly away, and the ten 
weeks of painful suspense were drawing to an end. 
Mr. Reed had written several letters to Mr. Still- 
man, the first one full of hope ; indeed he stated 
that he had no doubt whatever, but that the 
identity of Belle as the lost child of Mr. Scott, 
could be easily and fully established. But his 
later letters chilled all these fervent hopes. He 
took a copy of the scrawl in the Bible with him, 
and had shown it to the lawyer employed for 
Belle at Willoughby ; who told him that it did 
not state in any part, either the name of the 
child or of her parents, or the time or place where 
the matter occurred. All that was stated in the 
writing might be true, and still it might have no 
reference whatever to the lost child of Mr. Scott. 
In one of his letters of later date, he stated that 
his arrangements were such that he would be at 
Auburn in the evening before the day set by the 
commissioner for deciding the case, and that his 
friend at New Orleans would reach there about 
the same time. He stated also, that there was a 

<342) 


SUSPENSE. 


343 


link to be supplied in the proofj if the facts war- 
ranted it, and that was, to show that the woman 
Minte, who was sold to a man in the western part 
of Virginia in June, was the same woman after- 
ward married to Aaron. He had no doubt what- 
ever that she was the same, but as yet no proof 
could be found to establish that essential fact. 
How had Minte been transferred from Virginia 
to Alabama ? by whom and when ? 

Poor Belle was sinking fast under the heavy 
weight of her accumulated sorrows. She tried at 
times to be cheerful, but the light of earthly hope 
had almost left her. Her fate hung upon the 
decision of a single man. Public opinion and 
the power of the government of the United States, 
and prejudice, were all on the side of her op- 
pressors. 

If she should be surrendered, what would be 
her fate ? Mr. Scott could, if he chose, put her as 
a field hand on a sugar plantation, to labor under 
the eye of an overseer, and to have her flesh torn 
by the whip ; he could also sell her, at a higher 
price, for baser purposes. Thousands of women 
no better than herself, had been so treated, and 
what reason had she to believe that her lot would 
be lighter than theirs ? 

Mr. Stillman deeply sympathized with Belle, 
and looked forward to the day when the decision 


344 


BELLE SCOTT. 


would be made, with fear and trembling and some- 
times with hope. He feared for the life and fate 
of the poor girl ; he feared also for the Church 
and for his country. The decision that would 
send her back into slavery would strike down, as 
with an iron mace, the religious liberty of every 
man and woman and child in the United States, 
at the North, at the South ; at the East, at the 
West. 

It was clear to him that our fathers had made 
one contract by which they bound themselves 
and their posterity forever to aid the slaveholder 
in his sin of oppressing his fellow man, by return- 
ing to him his fugitive slave ; and it was also as 
clear that about two years afterward they made 
another contract for themselves and their poster- 
ity, by which the religious liberty of each man in 
the United States is fully guaranteed and secured ; 
and that they intended, by the last contract, to 
repeal all things in the former contract that were 
inconsistent with it. 

Cut would the commissioner see this as clearly 
as he saw it ? If he did so, had he courage 
enough to adhere to the truth and the right, and 
to maintain the highest right of each man in the 
United States at all hazards and at every sacri- 
fice that man can could make or endure ? If the 
commissioner should sustain his own religious 


SUSPENSE. 


345 

freedom, he would do so for all the people of the 
United States. If he betrayed it, he betrayed it 
for all mankind. 

Mr. Stillman well knew that if the people could 
but see what really was at stake in the contest, 
they would, in every city and town and hamlet in 
the whole land, stand waiting with eager earnest- 
ness to hear the result ; they would ask each 
other with quivering lips, are the rights for which 
our fathers left their homes in the old world and 
fled to this, when it was all a wilderness, yet ours ? 
or are they taken from us forever ? and will the 
men whom we employ and pay to protect us in 
them, betray us ? Are the rights, for which our 
fathers bled on a hundred battle fields, wrested 
from us ? or are they safe forever ? But it would 
require time to awaken the people. They will 
look upon him as an idle dreamer, who shouts in 
their ears — “Your religious freedom is stricken 
down and wrested from you ! ” 

When Daniel was forbidden to pray, thousands 
of men had the same interest in the question at 
stake, that he had, but they could not either see 
or feel that any wrong was done to them. Thou- 
sands stood by when the Apostles were forbidden 
to preach, all of whom were as deeply interested in 
the right they were asserting as were the Apostles, 
and did not dream that any rights of theirs were 


346 


BELLE SCOTT. 


involved in the contest. And in this country, 
part of the people have made laws by which their 
own rights, and those of all the people in the 
United States, to religious liberty, are stricken 
dpwn, and nearly the whole land quietly acquiesces 
in the wrong. The reason is, that the people do 
not feel aggrieved by laws that are intended to 
oppress the black race of men. They have so 
long looked upon their oppression as a thing of 
course, that they regard it as right, or at least as 
inevitable. 

On the evening before the decision was to be 
made, Mr. Stillman’s family could not rest. As 
boats were heard, passing the village they hoped 
that some one of them would land and Edgar 
Reed would knock at Mr. Stillman’s door. But 
the weary night wore away and he came not. 


CHAPTER XLIV. 


THE DECISION. 

Early in the morning a pure blue sky, upon 
which the moon and stars seemed to have left still 
lingering, part of their light and glory, canopied the 
village of Auburn. All was calm and sweetly beauti- 
ful, as if the spirit of love and peace filled the air and 
hovered over the scene. From each house in the 
village, the slowly and gracefully ascending smoke 
rose in white wreaths until it mingled with the 
air, and the glorious sun, just rising, threw his 
long waves of crystal light, in luxurious beauty 
over the scene. The river was as a broad line 
of melted silver, moving slowly and majestically 
on, until hidden from view by a curve in its 
course. 

Mr. Stillman prayed for Belle, and sobs from 
Mrs. Stillman and Mrs. Johnston drowned his 
voice, and they all rose in tears. The ladies em- 
braced poor Belle, kissed her, and attired her 
for her appearance in court. 

At the same time Mr. Scott, who had been in 

the village a day, was walking toward the court- 

( 347 ) 


348 


BELLE SCOTT. 


house with the quick step, and hard, keen eye of 
a determined man. By his side was a man whom 
he had engaged to assist him; and along the 
street, going to the same place, the commissioner, 
with a roll of paper in his hand, was leisurely 
selecting his way, so as to avoid soiling his polished 
boots. 

The ring of the anvil and the noise of the ham- 
mer stopped as he passed, and men put on their 
coats, and hastened to the court-house. It was 
soon filled; but those who were soonest there, 
were people of color from the village and the 
country, looking silently and earnestly at the 
gathering crowd. The commissioner took his 
seat. The officer announced that the court was 
in session, and commanded all persons to keep 
silence. By the side of the marshal were fifty 
strong men, whom he had commanded to aid 
him. 

Mr. Scott and his lawyers, one of whom was a 
stranger, and the assistant he had employed, seated 
themselves at a long table in front of the com- 
missioner. 

One chair was yet vacant, and the people looked 
eagerly at the door for the person who was to 
occupy it. 

At length it opened, and Belle, supported on 
one side by Mrs, Stillman, and on the other by 


THE DECISION. 349 

Mrs. Johnston, entered the room. Seats were 
provided for the group near the table. 

Belle was radiantly beautiful. The paleness, as 
of death, which had so long settled upon her cheek, 
now, under the excitement of the hour, gave way 
to a hectic flush that spread over her face. Her 
eyes were bright as if her whole soul shone through 
them. Her long, jet-black hair hung in curls over 
her neck. No bride ever looked more lovely. 
But her attire was not that of a bride ; she was 
dressed in deep mourning — an appropriate cos- 
tume. Over her countenance despair brooded, 
as if he had clasped hands with death. She was 
calm in all her movements; but hers was the 
calmness of resignation to inevitable sorrow. Her 
eyes were fixed, her hands clasped, her breathing 
short and quick, as of a person who is suffocating. 
All eyes, for an instant, were fixed upon her, and 
then turned to the commissioner, who read his 
opinion. 


CHAPTER XLV. 


THE DECISION. 

“The evidence,” he said, “proved that Belle 
Robinson, the alleged fugitive, had been in the 
possession of Mr. Scott for many years; and 
during all that time, he had claimed her as his 
slave. Possession of personal property, especially 
when it is accompanied by a claim of ownership on 
the part of the possessor, is always, at least, prima 
facie evidence of the claimant’s right to it. And 
as there is no evidence in this case, tending to 
disprove this possession, or this claim of ownership, 
the court had no difficulty in arriving at the con- 
clusion, that the girl in question, was in fact, by 
the laws of Louisiana, the property of the claimant, 
John Scott. 

“ The next inquiry is : Is she a fugitive from 
service ? 

“ On this question, the evidence left no doubt. 
The boat landed for a moment at the wharf of 
this town ; it was nearly night ; and the defendant, 
availing herself of the confusion occasioned by the 
( 350 ) 


THE DECISION. 351 

landing, escaped, in company with another person, 
also a fugitive slave. 

“ This brings the case within the provisions of 
the act of Congress of 1850 ; and if that law is in 
accordance with the Constitution of the United 
States, the defendant must be surrendered. 

“ It might not be out of place to advert, for a 
moment only, to an alleged discovery, that the 
girl Belle is indeed a free person, and a niece of 
her claimant. But no evidence had been pro- 
duced, which even tended to prove that the 
writing, which it is claimed identifies her, has any 
reference to her ; nor does it appear by whom, or 
for what purpose, or when it was written ! Such 
evidence could not be received against the girl ; 
and by the same principle, it could not be 
received in her favor. It would indeed have 
afforded him great pleasure, to have found her 
free : the duty before him was unpleasant, but 
still it is not the less a duty, 

“ Is the act in question, in accordance with the 
Constitution of the United States ? 

“It is claimed that the acts of 1850, and 1793, 
are both contrary to the first amendment ; which 
provides 4 that Congress shall make no law respect- 
ing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the 
free exercise thereof.’ If, in fact, either of these 
acts of Congress do, in any degree, interfere with 


352 


BELLE SCOTT. 


the free exercise of religion — either of love to 
God or to man — do impair liberty of conscience ; 
then the acts are void. Do they have any such 
effect? It is claimed, on the one side, that this 
girl is the property of the claimant, Mr. Scott, 
who perhaps, may have purchased her with his 
money ; and that the laws of the state in which 
he lives, protect him in the enjoyment of this 
species of property, as they do of any other ; and 
that therefore, his right to the restoration of it, 
rests upon the same basis, that it rests upon as 
to other kinds of property. 

“On the other hand, it is claimed that the 
woman in question, is a human being; and to 
surrender her into slavery, is to partake of the 
guilt of the person, who holds or claims her as his 
slave. 

“This may be true, if indeed there is guilt, in 
holding her as a slave. 

“Slavery, in some form, has existed from 
time immemorial, and among all nations of the 
earth. 

“ It is true, that this does not prove it right. 
It casts, however, the burthen of proving that 
it is wrong, on the party who assails it. 

“Have they done so here? The Christian 
Scriptures have been referred to ; and it must be 
admitted, that the arguments drawn from them, 


THE DECISION. 


353 


have been presented with ingenuity. On the 
proper exposition of the Scriptures, the sects into 
which the whole Christian world has been divided, 
differ in many important points. But in the 
rightfulness of slave -holding, and its entire ac- 
cordance w 7 ith the Scriptures; there is among 
the Christians of the United States a singular 
unanimity of opinion. Catholics and Protestants 
agree, that slave-holding is not sin. Indeed 
almost all the Christian sects agree, that it is no 
sin, to hold men and women in slavery. They 
admit known slaveholders to their pulpits, and 
receive the sacraments of the church from their 
hands. They admit them to Christian fellowship ; 
while most of them are so strict, that they 
sever from that fellowship, a person who dances, 
or even attends a dance. Thousands of men who 
have been set apart to the office of the ministry, 
and who have devoted their lives to the study and 
exposition of the Scriptures, are daily proclaiming, 
by the most certain of all tests — their conduct — 
that slave-holding is not sin. This they do with 
heavy vows upon them, to rebuke all sin. This 
they daily do ; most of them firmly believing in 
the eternity of rewards and punishments. Nearly 
all of these men are therefore daily, and with one 
accord, teaching and proclaiming to the public, 
that slave-holding is no sin. Under these cir- 


354 


BELLE SCOTT. 


cumstances, it would at least be an act of rashness 
in the court, to dissent from their continued and 
united testimony. 

“I therefore adjudge that Belle Robinson is a 
fugitive slave, and that she be restored to her 
owner, John Scott.” 

The judge now signed a paper, already drawn 
up, and handed it to the marshal. 

The marshal conversed for a moment in a low 
voice with Mr. Scott. He then approached Belle, 
and laid his hand on her shoulder : “ You must 
now go with your master.” A loud shriek was 
heard from Mrs. J ohnston. Mrs. Stillman became 
pale as a corpse; a thrill ran through all the 
spectators in the court-room. The judge folded 
up his papers, and was about to leave the bench, 
but before he did so, said, “ he had heard that 
evidence was expected that day, to identify 
the girl as a free person. If it came before the 
marshal had finally executed his order, by taking 
the girl out of the state, he would hear the evi- 
dence.” He then left the court-house. 

The deep, cold, gray eyes of Mr. Scott, glared 
like those of a tiger. The prey was his. He 
seized Belle, and drawing out a pair of handcuffs, 
placed them upon her wrists. The poor girl raised 
her eyes and her manacled hands, appealing 
to Heaven, and found relief from her agony 


THE DECISION. 


355 


in a burst of frantic grief. “ Why was I snatched 
from the fire to endure the deeper horrors of this 
hour ? Why was I born into this world, to find 
in it nothing but unmingled sorrow and suffering?” 

Mrs. Johnston joined in her cries ; turning to 
the men around her, she asked them why they who 
so bravely rescued the poor girl from death, now 
stood calmly while a worse fate awaited her ? She 
called on Hulbert, to make one more effort to 
save the poor girl for whom he had once periled 
his life. 

Hulbert asked Mr. Scott what price he would 
take for her ? 

“No price shall buy her. I will make an ex- 
ample of her, sir. I have raised her tenderly as 
my own child. I ’ll now send her into the cot- 
ton-field as a hand, or I ’ll send her to Cuba, and 
sell her there. Your town is not able to produce 
the sum, sir — she is not for sale ; I have always 
told inquirers that no price will buy her.” 


CHAPTER X L V I. 


THE SURRENDER. 

Mrs. Stillman embraced Belle once more and 
kissed her. The sad procession moved from the 
court-house down to the bank of the river. 
Mrs. Johnston quickly descended the bank in 
advance of the party ; went to a ferry-boat 
chained at the wharf ; locked the chain by which 
it was fastened, and put the key in her pocket. 
The marshal said to her : 

“This is a public ferry; I want to cross the river.” 

“ The ferry is mine — the boat is mine, and you 
shall not have it for the purpose of taking that 
poor girl out of Ohio. My boat was not made 
to carry her (pointing to Belle) where she may 
be scourged until the blood from her torn flesh 
falls upon the ground — to carry her where she 
may be sent as a laborer into the cotton-field, to 
toil all day in the sun, without even the promise 
of reward.” 

Poor, poor Belle ! hope had fled ; she was sad 
as those who meet death in despair. Her senses 
seemed benumbed, her lips were white, and her 

( 356 ) 


THE SURRENDER. 


357 


tall form, and face deadly pale, would have made 
a fit model for an artist, to paint the mingled 
emotions of despair and horror. 

A great crowd was assembled upon the shore, 
to witness the departure of the girl (as they 
called her) and her master. Mrs. Johnston 
moved about in this assembly, and tried every 
effort, but in vain, to induce them to rescue Belle 
by force. Two young men said, “they were 
willing to do so, if enough could be found to aid 
in the enterprise.” Others said, “it is a sin, 
and a shame for her master to take her away ; 
but they must submit to the laws of the coun- 
try, until those laws shall be repealed.” 

“Are you not convinced that the acts you 
speak of, are unconstitutional and void ? ” said 
Mrs. Johnston. 

“Yes,” they replied, “ we have no doubt -but 
that they are unconstitutional; but until some 
court shall declare them so, we are bound, as good 
citizens, to obey them.” 

“Then, if Congress should command you to 
worship an idol, you would worship it,” said Mrs. 
Johnston, “ for four or five years, till some judge 
said the law was void ; and if the judge was him- 
self an idolater, and decided it was not void, 
you would, of course, continue to worship the 
idol all your lives ? ” 

30 


358 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“But this case seems to us, to be different/’ 
said the men. 

“ How is it different ? ” said Mrs. Johnston. 
“ Idolatry was the sin of the Homan empire, as 
slavery is the sin of America. It is as gross a 
sin to enslave a human being, as it is to worship 
an idol ; and the surrender of this poor girl into 
slavery, is just as bad as it would be to pray 
in an idol’s temple. Will you as Americans, 
submit to such outrages openly practiced before 
your eyes ? You are entitled, each man of you, 
to the protection of the Constitution of the 
United States ; and are recreant to liberty, if you 
allow such outrages upon your greatest rights. 
Your rights, in this matter, are the rights of all 
men ; what you maintain for yourselves, you 
maintain for the whole race of man ; and if you 
betray them, you do so for the whole human 
race.” 

“ That looks like Nullification,” said a man in 
the crowd. 

“ I don’t care what it looks like,” replied Mrs. 
J ohnston. “ The acts of Congress on this sub- 
ject are void, and he who maintains them, does 
not support the Constitution of his country, but 
tramples that Constitution under his feet. Daniel, 
when he was forbidden to pray, and the Apostles, 
when they were forbidden to preach, had no such 


THE SURRENDER. 


359 


constitutional rights as we have, and yet they 
obeyed God rather than man. You will be doubly 
recreant to your duty, if with a constitutional pro- 
vision made by your fathers, for the very purpose 
of making all laws that interfere with religious 
duty, merely nullities and utterly void, you obey 
such laws and permit them to be carried into 
effect before your very eyes.” 

“That looks like the truth, said one of the 
men ; but we fear the consequences. It may be 
better to let such wrongs pass for the present, 
believing, as we do, that this reign of terror will 
soon end.” 

“Yes,” said Mrs. Johnston, “but in the mean- 
time this poor girl will be murdered, and then 
what will be your share of the guilt of her ‘ taking 
off?’” 

The marshal sent one of his men to a neighbor- 
ing grogshop, and a large crew of half-drunken 
men came shouting at his heels, to prevent a rescue. 
They were loud in their professions of love for the 
laws of the country, and for the Constitution of 
the United States, and for the Union. Men were 
in the gang, whose only virtue was their patriotism; 
who respected no law that interfered with the 
indulgence of their impulses and appetites, but 
who now were found to love one of the laws of the 
country. The basest loved the act the best. The 


360 


BEJjLE SCOTT. 


most worthless were the most ready to lend their 
aid to carry it into execution. 

Mr. Scott passed from one point to another, 
amid the crowd, silent, with compressed lips and 
flashing eyes, apparently enraged at the unex- 
pected delay. At last a boat was seen ascending the 
river. The little party around Belle, now gathered 
still closer to her. Mrs. Johnston, again and again 
folded her in her arms, and wept in an agony of 
passionate grief. Mrs. Stillman, in tears, embraced 
her, and begged God’s blessing upon her. Mr. 
Stillman took both her manacled hands in his, and 
prayed aloud for God’s blessing, and that he would 
yet deliver her ; he prayed in agony, as though 
he would take by force, the boon he craved — as a 
mother prays who begs for the life of her only son. 
The boat landed for a moment, and the party 
moved toward it; but the voice of Captain 
McBride rang out : “ You can’t bring your slave 
on board this boat, sir. I’ve made my boat a 
floating slave-pen long enough, and will do so no 
more. Mr. Scott stopped, and cast at the cap- 
tain a look full of rage and contempt. 

At this time three persons were seen descend- 
ing from the boat ; one, a man about sixty years 
of age, with white hair, and shabbily dressed; 
another, a woman who took the arm of a gentle- 
man by her side, as they v.alked up the bank of 


MR. SCOTT. 


361 

the river, and who appeared to be a few years his 
senior. When she first stepped ashore, she made 
a low courtsey to the first person she met, and said, 
she was mighty glad to see him, and continued 
from time to time to courtsey to the persons she 
passed, until the pair moved out of sight. 

The gentleman walked on apparently without 
seeing any one. 

Another person got off the boat, but he stood to 
watch the landing of a pair of fine bay horses 
which he had in charge. He was a tall man, a 
little lame, and with a benevolent and humorous 
expression upon his face. 

After the horses were safely landed, he followed 
the three other persons up the bank; the horses, 
led by a hostler from the tavern, followed him. 

Mr. Scott looked at the man who first went up, 
carelessly, then with a searching and curious gaze> 
and a shade of anxiety passed over his face. He 
looked too, at the other man, and became pale. 
As soon as they were out of sight, he offered a 
hundred dollars to any one who would put his 
party across the river in half an hour. But there 
was only one ferry at that place, and the next, 
either above or below, was several miles off ; no 
other boat could be had. The firemen and deck 
hands on the steamboat, as soon as they heard 
the captain say, “ that it should never again be 


362 


BELLE SCOTT. 


made a floating slave-pen,” set up a loud hurrah 
for Captain McBride — and in the midst of it the 
boat went on her course. 

The whole party were about to move from the 
bank, and go back to the tavern or to their homes, 
when the sound of another boat was heard. They 
lingered, and it came slowly on. It was running 
upon one wheel only. The boat had broken her 
shaft, and like a crippled bird, at last came ashore. 
Before she did so, a person was seen upon her 
hurricane deck waving his hand and handkerchief ; 
when he came near enough, he was known by all 
as the young printer, Edgar Heed. A loud shout 
arose from the greater part of the crowd, while 
his confident air and manner told them that 
relief was at hand. A venerable looking gentle- 
man, carefully dressed in black, supported by a 
gold headed cane, came ashore, and close by 
followed Edgar Heed, who first eagerly inquired 
for Mr. Carter ; if he had arrived ? No one knew 
Mr. Carter, but he was told that a man with a 
pair of fine horses had just got off a boat and 
gone up to the tavern. He smiled and said, all 
is right. He then went up to Belle and bade 
her be of good cheer. He was shocked when he 
found her manacled and heard that the trial was 
over. He then found Mr. Scott, and told him 
he had on hand evidence that Belle was his 


HOPE. 


363 


niece, and that he knew it, and that if he attempted 
to take her out of the state he should be instantly 
arrested as a criminal. After a brief conversation, 
the manacles were taken from Belle’s hands, and 
the party went to the tavern. 


CHAPTER XLVII. 


THE SURRENDER. 

Mr. Scott walked quickly across the room 
several times, with his hands clasped behind him, 
and then turning said : “ What are we here for ? 
What do you want with me?” 

“ We have met here to see if we can compromise 
this matter.” 

“Well, what terms do you offer? ” 

“We wish you to recognize Belle as the only 
child and heiress of your brother.” 

Mr. Scott staggered back as if one had struck 
him, and said, “ She my brother’s child ? preposter- 
ous. I will submit to no such imposition, sir. I 
have heard, since I came here, that some such 
story has been afloat, but by whom it has been 
started, or for what purpose other than to make 
a nine days’ wonder, and excite sympathy for the 
fugitive, I do not know.” 

“Is this your answer to my proposition to 
compromise? I make it, sir, said a lawyer 
Mr. Reed had employed, “to save you from 
( 364 ) 


THE COMPROMISE. 365 

exposure, and, perhaps, more disastrous conse- 
quences.” 

“Exposure — consequences l ” said Mr. Scott; 
“I neither heed the one nor the other.” 

The lawyer, Mr. Ilinman, now said : “ I see, 
Mr. Scott, that you are not fully informed of the 
position we occupy. I have here, in my hand, a 
bill in chancery drawn up in Willoughby, and 
brought with me, hoping that you will compro- 
mise the case, and save the expenses and other 
incidents of litigation. It is at your service to 
read.” 

Mr. Scott sat down and read the paper, which 
gave in detail, with dates and places, a concise 
history of his treatment to Belle, and asked that 
he should be compelled to pay over to her all 
moneys and property that he had received from 
his brother’s estate. 

He read it carefully, folded his spectacles, 
placed them in their case, and then said : “ Well, 
here are assertions enough, but as I certainly shall 
deny every one of them that is material to the 
controversy, you, of course, expect to prove 
them ; ” and then, in rather a louder tone, “ Where 
is your proof? ” 

Mr. Ilinman quietly replied : “ Our proof, sir, 
is in this village.” 


31 


366 


BELLE SCOTT. 


Mr. Scott : “ Who have you here that knows 
anything about this girl ? ” 

"We have Dr. Bryce, from Willoughby, who 
has already seen and examined her, and is willing 
to swear that he has no doubt of her being the 
child of your brother. Dr. Bryce, you know, was 
the family physician of your brother ? ” 

Mr. Scott : " Where is he ? ” 

" lie is in this house, sir.” 

Mr. Scott paused, looked embarrassed, and 
then, without waiting for Mr. Hinman to complete 
his statement, said : 

" I never cared a straw about keeping the girl 
as a slave. If she is willing to leave and go im- 
mediately to Scotland, where her grandfather came 
from, I will defray the expenses of her trip, and 
in addition to that, will give her an annuity so 
long as she will stay there. She has many re- 
lations in Scotland, who, no doubt, will receive her 
gladly, if she can find them and establish the 
relationship.” 

" That will not do, sir. We have invited this 
meeting for your benefit ; not for hers. Nothing 
less, than an unconditional acknowledgment of all 
her rights, and her full restitution to whatever 
property she is entitled, will answer our purpose.” 

“ Restoration ! property !” said Mr. Scott ; "it is 
enough that I give her freedom .and an annuity.” 


THE COMPROMISE. 


367 


“ Indeed, sir, you are greatly mistaken. But I 
must leave this place and return, early to-morrow 
morning, to Virginia. We are but wasting time 
in fruitless efforts to compromise. We have 
witnesses, sir, here in this house, whom I have 
seen and conversed with, whose testimony will, 
without doubt, fully identify my client as the 
only child and heir-at-law of your brother.” 

“What other witnesses have you than Dr. 
Bryce ?” 

Mr. Hinman stood quietly before Mr. Scott, 
looked him fully in the face, and said in a low, 
firm voice, we have here the Rev. Mr. St. John ; 
and opening a door he invited Mr. St. John into • 
the room. 

The reverend gentleman and Mr. Scott looked 
at each other, and both were embarrassed. Mr. 

St, John extended his hand ; Mr. Scott took it 
coldly and timidly. 

“I have come here as a witness against you, 
sir: I regret it, and still more deeply regret 
the agency that my friend and parishioner has 
had in this unfortunate transaction. I recollect 
all his conversation as distinctly as if it occurred 
but yesterday, and I am now willing to testify to 
the whole of it, from the hour that he first saw 
this child to that when he saw her at your house, 
five years ago.” 


368 


BELLE SCOTT. 


" Who is this friend and parishioner of whom 
you speak ? ” 

“ Col. Bennett Leathers, sir.” 

“ Where is he ?” 

“ He is dead, sir. He died four years ago, in 
Alabama, where he resided for the last twenty 
years of his life. I was with him in his last sick- 
ness, and heard from his own lips on his deathbed, 
only a few hours before he died, a full state- 
ment of his agency in this affair.” 

"Why have you not sooner disclosed it?” 

"Because I got it from a dying man under 
the injunction of secrecy, until the proper time 
should arrive to disclose it: that time has now 
come ” 

Mr. Scott said with a sneer, “ The statements 
of a dead man cannot affect me. They were 
probably the ravings of delirium; at all events, 
it is not evidence.” 

Mr. Hinrnan said, “ That is true, sir, but we 
have living witnesses in this house, whose testi- 
mony cannot be so easily got rid of ; if you please, 
I will introduce you to my friend Mr. Strong.” 

A poor, dilapidated, worn-out old man, whose 
hands shook as with an ague, gracefully bowed 
to Mr. Scott. 

Mr. Scott returned his salutation by coldly 
saying, “ What do you know of this matter, sir ?” 


HON. JOHN STRONG. 


369 


“I know nothing whatever of the immediate 
transaction, sir. In the month of June, twenty 
years ago, I sold to a partner of Williams the 
negro trader, a gill named Patsy; I was then 
living with my family in Washington City. The 
bill of sale handed me by the trader, was a 
common printed blank form for such papers, and 
I inadvertently signed it, without first striking 
out the usual warranty, that the article sold is 
sound. Very soon afterward, Williams sued me 
on the contract for a return of the purchase 
money; a suit which ruined myself and my family. 
I defended the suit, and in the course of prepara- 
tion for the trial, it became necessary for me to 
go into Virginia to cross-examine a witness whose 
deposition Williams took to prove the death of 
the girl. I did so. The witness was a farmer 
named Hilliard. Afterward I met the same man 
in the south-eastern part of Alabama ; to which 
place he removed soon after he gave his deposi- 
tion. 

“He bought a woman named Minte, at the 
time the girl died that I sold to Williams, and he 
saw the girl both before and after her death. He 
told me, that he brought Minte with him to 
Alabama,” 

“Well, but what has all this to do with the 
matter in controversy here ? ” said Mr. Scott. 


570 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“It has this,” said Mr. Hinman, “this woman, 
Minte, was the nurse of your brother’s child.” 

“ Another dead witness ! ” sneered Mr. Scott. 

“ The dead leave traces behind them ! ” said 
Mr. Ilinman. 

Mr. Scott said : “ What traces has this negress 
left, that affect me ? ” 

“ This book, sir, and these marks.” 

Dr. Bryce was then called upon. The passage 
in the book which was so covered and obscured 
that Belle could not read it, had been submitted 
to some chemical process that removed the ob- 
scuring matter, and brought out distinctly all the 
letters. It was a statement that the middle and 
little fingers, on the left hand of the child, were 
grown together as far up as the second joint, and 
that Dr. Bryce had cut them apart. 

Dr. Bryce produced an old day-book, in whicli 
he had made an entry of the fact, that he had 
performed the operation on Mr. Scott’s child. 
Belle was brought in, her fingers closely exam- 
ined, and the scars were there. 

Mr. Scott reeled and sank back in his chair — 
looked around him as if for aid, and closed his 
eyes; then starting he piteously inquired, “Have 
I no rights here ? ” 

“Certainly you have,” said, Mr. Ilinman, 
“ and all your rights shall be respected. It is your 


THE COMPROMISE. 371 

wrongs that we are opposing: every wrong re- 
dressed is a right established.” 

Mr. Scott interrupting and turning to Mr. 
Hinman said, “ I will give half her fortune and 
her freedom for the sake of* peace. Will not that 
satisfy you ? ” 

Mr. Hinman, coldly and rather contemptuously: 
“ JVo, sir. It is growing late ; I must leave to- 
morrow; time passes swiftly. Make your last 
offer or we shall abandon the conference, and you 
can anticipate the result.” 

Mr. Scott: “I have laid out thousands of 
dollars on Belle’s education and maintenance. 
Can you not let me have that and interest? 
her fortune is large ; I am her only uncle — she can 
well spare it ; only repay me what I have expended 
on her without interest.” 

Mr. Hinman : “ You expended that money 
(if indeed it has cost so much) without her 
request, and while you were doing so you were 
holding her iniquitously as a slave! ” 

Mr. Scott : “ I will not contend ; let me have 
ten thousand dollars and I will be content; 
she can spare it; she will not even feel the 
loss of so small a sum, and then we will part in 
peace, and she and I will be friends.” 

Mr. Hinman, impatiently : “ Hot a cent ! not 

a cent, sir !” 


372 


BELLE SCOTT. 


Mr. Scott: “What then do I gain by the 
compromise ?” 

“You gain this, sir; you are saved from the 
public exposure of this transaction ; the expenses 
of a lawsuit, and it may be, from legal proceedings 
of a criminal nature.” 

Mr. Scott turned pale, sat in silence a minute 
and then said : “ I am innocent, but circumstances 
seem to be against me; draw up the necessary 
papers for my signature and I will take the advice 
of my attorney upon them.” 

Mr. Hinman : “ Your attorney is now here,” 

bowing to him, “ I hope to have his aid in draw- 
ing up the papers, and will do so instantly.” He 
then sat down and wrote, for Belle had request- 
ed it, a deed of emancipation for her, and another 
paper by which Mr. Scott, under his hand and 
seal, acknowledged Belle to be the only child 
and heir-at-law of his brother, promising to ac- 
count to her or her attorney for whatever money 
or personal property he had received of the estate, 
and resigning his office of administrator of that 
estate. This was carefully read, signed, sealed 
and attested in due form by witnesses. 


CHAPTER XLVIII. 


DREAM. 

When Scott left Auburn, accompanied by his 
lawyer, he did so on board a steamboat bound for 
Wheeling. He was harassed in mind, and wearied 
with the excitement and labor of the day, dejected 
and melancholy. Late at night he aroused his 
friend, and said : 

“ I have had a horrid dream. I thought I was 
in a strange country ; there was a house which I 
knew to be mine ; I was to live in it alone. By 
the side of the house, and not far from it, was an 
outbuilding thatched with straw. I stood quite 
near it, and saw a pale-yellow flame ascending 
from the straw, and looked, but the straw was not 
consumed. I was about to call for help when I 
saw two men near me. They looked at the flame, 
and then steadily at each other, with meaning and 
deep melancholy in their faces, and without saying 
a word, went away. I awoke.” 

“Well,” said Mr. Ellerton, “I see nothing 
remarkable in your dream, that you should 
be alarmed about it. You are nervous and 

( 373 ) 


374 


BELLE SCOTT. 


excited; to-morrow you will be refreshed and 
better.” 

“ I do see something in it that I never saw before. 
That house is my home ; that flame that burned, 
and consumed not, must, therefore, last forever ; 
those melancholy men have gone to that place be- 
fore me, and know what it means.” 

lie laid down, and after a brief sleep, again 
awakened his companion, and said : 

“ I have had another horrid dream. A great 
black dog was about to attack me. I felt utterly 
helpless ; a man came and drove him away, and 
said, 4 He will see you again at nine o’clock to- 
morrow.’ What can that mean ? I am not 
superstitious, but I never before have had such 
impressions from dreams. They seem to mean 
something.” 

“ Oh, my dear sir,” said Mr. Eller ton, “ your 
whole nervous system has been shocked almost 
beyond endurance, to-day. The slamming of a 
door would startle you now, more than would the 
firing of a pistol at another time. Compose your- 
self, and after the night’s rest' you will be better, 
and laugh at what now strangely enough startles 
you.” 

The next day Mr. Scott arose pale and haggard. 
After breakfast he sat in the cabin alone, till he 
became weary, and then went out upon the upper 


mk, s:ott’s death. 


375 


deck of the boat, and looked at the beautiful 
scenery on the Ohio and Virginia shores. As he 
was about to descend, the boat made a lurch from 
some obstacle it met with— his foot slipped, the 
cry was raised : “ A man overboard ! ” Two boys 
were sent out with a boat to pick him up; the 
steamboat paused for a moment, and the boys 
came back with a hat, in which was written, 66 John 
Scott.” They were taken in, and the boat went 
on her way. 

A lady and gentleman who were standing at a 
back window of the cabin looked out on the scene ; 
saw the arm of the sinking man for a moment ; saw 
the boys pick up his hat and return. The lady 
shed tears, and was sad ; she did not know the name 
nr the history of him who was lost; she knew 
only that a brother bad gone to his long home, 
and that grief must fill the hearts of some house- 
hold when they would learn his fate. 


CHAPTER X L I X. 


COL. LEATHERS. 

Fifteen years have rapidly passed over the 
married life of Bennett Leathers. He has been 
made wiser, by his increasing years. His wild 
lands have greatly risen in value. He has sold 
them, and then' proceeds, added to the fortune he 
obtained by his wife, have made him rich. He 
is now Colonel Leathers, and has often been a 
member of the Legislature; and has been talked 
of by his friends, as a suitable person for Gov- 
ernor of the state. Some indeed, have gone so 
far as to hint, that he should be President 
of the United States. But Colonel Leathers has 
always disclaimed any such wish; and has fre- 
quently said to his friends, that he is sighing for 
retirement, and the peace and comfort of domes- 
tic life. 

The services that have given him distinction, 
are but the outgrowth of the principles of his 
early life. He has been a consistent statesman. 
A single profound thought, has given unity of 
purpose to all his political life. 

(376) 


COL. LEATHERS. 


377 


All negroes and mulattoes would be better off 
if they were slaves. This has been the maxim 
that his partisans have always carried upon his 
banner in every contested election ; and under it, 
he has always triumphed. And when a grateful 
posterity shall strike coins to commemorate his 
virtues, this must be the motto which they will 
place upon them. 

Acting steadily upon this principle, the world 
is indebted to him, for the profound policy exhib- 
ited in the statute books of some of our sister 
republican states ; by which all free persons of 
color, are driven from the state, as a punishment 
for their impudence in being free; and under 
which, so many free persons of color, from the 
free states, have been imprisoned, and sold into 
slavery, for the gross crime of breathing the air, 
or treading the soil of those states. 

His zeal against all Abolitionists, has increased 
with his years. He always looked upon the 
whole race with as much contempt, as so amiable 
a gentleman can entertain for any persons. But 
still, he has had some compassion for their errors. 
He knows how weak human nature is, and how 
deluded even honest men may be. He has not 
therefore, ever suffered his feelings so far to 
master his judgment, as to be willing to hang 
any of these poor creatures, who may by chance 


378 


BELLE SCOTT. 


have fallen into his power. To whip them, or tar 
and feather them, has always seemed to him, to 
be just judgment in mercy. With Mrs, Leathers, 
the world has not gone bn quite so well. 

What trifling incidents affect the happiness of 
life! A spark, light as the feather from a 
swallow’s wing, may fall on the ground, and perish 
as it falls. Another spark as light, may fall in 
the swallow’s abandoned nest, and set fire to the 
contents, and then to the roof of the house to 
which it is built, and the house and a city may, in 
an hour, be but a mass of smoking ruins. Com- 
mercial disasters may follow from this misfortune, 
and their effects may be felt around the world. 

One day, as Mrs. Leathers was quietly seated 
in her chamber in the second story of her house, 
a robin flew into the room. The scared bird 
fluttered from place to place, in its efforts to 
escape; and as it did so, it brushed from the 
mantlepiece a tumbler, which fell on the hearth. 
“ Oh, my teeth ! ” said Mrs. Leathers ; but do 
not imagine, reader, that any sudden pangs of 
toothache afflicted the lady. She had outlived 
all such infirmity. Her teeth lay upon the hearth, 
all broken into fragments. No dentist, not even 
the most persevering of the profession, ever 
visited the lonely part of the state in which she 
lived ; and Mrs Leathers was condemned to pass 


MRS. LEATHERS. 


379 


the residue of her life without teeth. At first, she 
encountered great difficulties from their loss ; but 
time makes amends for many losses, or lessens 
their burden. She could eat no solid food ; but 
in a few months, she grew so enormously fat on 
mashed potatoes, that she was unable to walk. 
She sat in a great arm-chair in her room, and 
read all the novels that the diligent Colonel 
Leathers could collect for her. Some of great 
merit, she read twice. 

Her greatest loss, was the want of society ; for 
the Colonel was so busily engaged, in spreading 
his political principles far and wide over his own 
state, and all the neighboring states; he had so 
many letters to write, and so many speeches to 
make, that his wife had long ago been taught, it 
would be a disaster to the country, for her to 
occupy any portion of his invaluable time. 

One day, a thought occurred to her new and 
bright, like a gleam of stray sunshine in the 
bottom of a dark well. Jule should sit in her 
room, and she would give Jule verbal instruction 
in religion. 

Jule was sent for ; she could but obey the call. 
She was about fourteen years old, a dull, sleepy- 
looking mulatto. Mrs. Leathers commanded her 
to be washed and clothed, and told her that she 
was promoted to the office of waiting-maid to her 


380 


BELLE SCOTT. 


mistress. Jule gave a loud grunt, when she heard 
this ; but Mrs, Leathers kindly thought it arose 
from her horror of being washed. 

For the first few days after Jule was installed 
in her new place, all things passed on pleasantly 
to both parties. Mrs. Leathers was glad to have 
some person always near her to talk to, and Jule 
was pleased with her change from the quarter 
to the great house, and of food and clothing. 
But old habits, how firmly will they adhere to 
us, and how hard are they to break! When 
Mrs. Leathers thought Jule was most attentive 
to her instructions, a closer inspection showed her 
to be fast asleep. She called, but Jule did not 
answer. She almost shouted, but Jule nodded 
her head, still lower and faster. She shrieked, 
but Jule was in deep slumber, and made no re- 
ply. She had to ring her bell for the cook to 
come up and awaken her ; but by the time the 
cook would reach the kitchen in the back yard, 
Jule was again asleep. 

Necessity is the mother of invention. Mrs. 
Leathers, after a week of deep thought, hit upon 
an expedient to keep Jule awake, which has not 
yet been patented, and is, therefore, at the service 
of any person who may choose to use it. 

She called Harry, the carpenter, and made him 
measure the distance between her seat and the 


JULE. 


381 


extremities of the room. He was then ordered to 
make a long pole, like a broomstick, and in one 
end to insert a nail, sharpened at the outer point, 
and in the other a small hook. This was done 
and placed in her hands. 

She sat now in her great arm-chair, which she 
entirely filled, dressed in an old, greasy, worn-out 
black silk gown, with this pole in her hand, like a 
sceptered queen on her throne. 

Whenever she called to Jule, if she received no 
answer, the point was quickly applied, and it served 
the purpose fully to awaken her. 

If she commanded Jule to come to her, and she 
failed to obey, the hook brought her rapidly near 
enough for her mistress to box her ears : obedience 
was now fully established. Jule kept awake while 
her mistress taught her the whole catechism, from 
“Who made you?” to “the end of all things.” 


32 


CHAPTER L. 


THE DEED OF EMANCIPATION. 

Mr. Reed took the deed of emancipation, as 
quickly as he could, to Belle, who had gone early in 
the evening to Mr. Stillman’s, and by the light of 
a lamp, which was held by Mrs. Johnston, she read 
the document, pressed it to her bosom, kissed the 
seal upon it, and looked at it as a child looks at 
a much-loved toy, and exclaimed, “ Oh ! thank God ! 
thank God, I am now free ! no more a slave ! no 
more a slave, and I never can be a slave again !” 

Mrs. Johnston seemed to be as much de- 
lighted as Belle; she skipped about the room 
with the deed in her hands, and said, “ I always 
told you she was free, I knew that some day it 
would turn out so.” 

Mr. Reed then told them that Mr. Scott had 
acknowledged Belle, as sole heiress of her father’s 
estate, and that she was entitled to the immediate 
possession. Belle received this intelligence with 
composure — almost with indifference — but Mrs. 
Johnston and Mr. and Mrs. Stillman were de- 
lighted to hear it. 

'' 382 ') 


THE EMANCIPATION. 


383 


“ How much is it ?” said Mr. Stillman. 

“ I do not know exactly, but from all that I can 
learn, I suppose the cash and stocks are worth 
one hundred thousand dollars, and the lands, 
negroes and personal property as much more,” said 
Mr. Reed. 

“ Belle,” said Mrs. Stillman, “ you have a large 
fortune.” 

“I am free ! I am free !” exclaimed Belle. 

“ But there are slaves,” said Mrs. Johnston ; 
“ Belle, you are a slaveholder.” 

66 1 a slaveholder, and that too at the very 
instant I find myself free ! Oh no ! no ! no ! I 
cannot be a slaveholder; I will not take these 
people as slaves ; I will set them free to-night !” 

The lawyer who accompanied Mr. Reed, was 
sent for ; and a deed of emancipation was drawn 
for all of them, with power to appropriate a sum 
of money from the estate for their present wants, 
until a suitable provision could be made for them. 

After a weary and eventful day, they all sepa- 
rated for rest. 

The next day, Mr. Stillman invited Mr. and 
Mrs. St. John, and others, to dine with him. 

All were seated at the table ; all joyously 
participated in the conversation ; the gloom, the 
sorrow that for a long time had hung as a thunder- 
cloud over the house of Mr. Stillman, had passed 


384 


BELLE SCOTT. 


suddenly away and joy, as bright sunlight, rested 
in its place. All seemed calmly happy. The 
lines that had begun to furrow the pure face of 
Mrs. Stillman, now converged into dimples radiant 
with gladness ; Mr. Stillman, though still thought- 
ful, was too happy to conceal his emotions. Poor 
Belle was unable to leave her room, but each mo- 
ment of her hours was a diamond sparkle of bliss. 

Captain Carter sat near the foot of the table, 
and quietly conversed with a gentleman by his 
side, on the merits and prices of horses. From 
time to time, as he heard the voice of the Rev. 
Mr. St. John, slowly descanting on some sublime 
truth of Christianity, he cast, with his oblique eye, 
a look at him, while his lip curled with ill-concealed 
contempt. 

General topics at first, on which none could 
differ, were discussed. Miss Jane Williams, how- 
ever, was restive — she sat opposite Mr. St. John, 
and said to him : 

“ How do you ministers of the south, get along 
with slavery ? ” 

Mrs. Stillman colored to her eyes — all the others 
at the table looked as surprised as they would 
have done, if she had thrown a stone at Mr. St. 
John ; but the Rev. gentleman was calm as he 
had been at any moment in his life, and replied : 

“I have had but little trouble on that subject; 


MR. ST, JOHN. 


385 


my greatest difficulties have been with the slave- 
trade. I have been greatly afflicted on account 
of the manner in which it is conducted.” 

Miss Jane Williams was quite excited, “Oh! 
Mr. St. John, do not ministers, in the slave-holding 
states, have great trouble on this matter of slavery?” 

“ Yes, miss, they are greatly perplexed about it, 
and the perplexity is daily increasing. They do 
not do their duty.” 

“Why, do they not faithfully discharge their 
duty on that, as well as on other matters ? ” 

“They are too timid, miss — they fear man 
rather than God.” 

“Do they preach at all on slavery ? ” 

“Yes, they sometimes do, but in so timid and 
time-serving a manner, that it is distressing to hear 
them. Their sermons make but little impression, 
and I fear, do but little good.” 

“ Well, they pray that their hearers may be en- 
lightened on the subject, I hope,” said Miss Jane. 

« They seldom mention it in their prayers, and 
when they do, it is in such a roundabout manner, 
that not half their hearers, I fear, understand for 
what they are praying. It is almost as bad as 
praying in an unknown tongue.” 

“ What can be done to induce them to speak 
out boldly, as men and as Christians, on this great 
duty ? ” 


386 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ I do not know. The best manner, I think, 
is for each minister to take to himself some por- 
tion of that subject, and by his own precept and 
example (for precept, you know, is entirely worth- 
less, unless it be sustained by correspondent prac- 
tice,) to illustrate the duties of Christians. Act- 
ing on this principle, I took to myself the depart- 
ment of the slave-trade, and labored for years in 
that branch of duty. After that, I labored about 
two years in the branch of duty connected with 
catching those slaves that escape. But my efforts 
were not sustained, as I think they should have 
been, by my brethren in the ministry, nor by the 
Christian public. I was a pioneer in the enter- 
prise, and shared the fate of all pioneers ; — I was 
misunderstood, neglected, and even persecuted.” 

The liveliest sympathy was shown for Mr. St. 
John by all at the table, except Captain Carter, 
who sat in silence, casting, occasionally, a glance 
at him. 

Mr. Stillman : “ My dear sir, you have labored, 
no doubt, faithfully, and you know that we always 
lose the honors and rewards of this world, in the 
ratio of our fidelity to Christian duty.” 

“ Yes,” said Mr. St. John, “it is so; I have 
always found it so.” 

A pause, for a minute or more, took place. 

Miss Williams said: “Is it not shocking, that 


MR. ST. JOHN. 


387 


parents sell their own children, Mr. St, John? 
Cannot some reform be made in that horrid 
practice ? ” 

Mr. St. John, greatly surprised : “ You mistake 
me, miss ! I have not been understood, I fear. 
I do not think it wrong or unchristian, for parents 
to sell their children.” 

The whole party, except Captain Carter and 
Mr. Reed, looked at him with surprise. He pro- 
ceeded : “ We all agree, that slave-holding, so far 
from being a sin, is in exact accordance with 
Christianity. St. Paul, you know, sent back 
Onesimus to his brother according to the flesh, to 
be held by him as a slave. There is not a word 
against slavery, in the New Testament ; and the 
Old Testament expressly sanctions it, and com- 
mands it. 

“Now, to reply to your question, miss, I think 
you err on this subject — your philosophy is wrong. 
It is right to hold slaves ; that must be regarded 
as a fixed principle — as a doctrine not to be dis- 
puted or disturbed. 

All experience shows, that it is useless to hold 
them, without the power of selling them ; because 
that power is an essential means of holding them. 
The master could not keep them obedient, unless 
he can hold over their heads, the terror of being 
sold ; and in addition to that, they would be of 


388 


BELLE SCOTT. 


no profit to their owners, unless they could sell 
them. If a man sells children, he must sell 
somebody’s children ; and I submit it to your own 
good sense, miss, whether he had not better sell 
his own children, than those of some other person !” 

Miss Williams excited : “ But did I not under- 
stand you to say, that you took, as your depart- 
ment of labor for several years, the reformation 
of the slave-trade ? ” 

“Yes, miss, I certainly said so.” 

“You condemn the slave-trade then, of course ?” 

“Not at all, not at all. I am really glad that 
you thus give me an opportunity to correct an 
erroneous impression, which, no doubt, my too 
general remarks have caused. I condemn the 
abuses and wickedness, that too frequently prevail 
where it is carried on. I found nearly all my 
brethren in the ministry, engaged in endeavoring 
to reform the abuses of slave-holding , by intro- 
ducing family prayer, and reading the Bible, to 
slaveholders and their slaves; and finding one 
department, as I believed, entirely neglected, I 
endeavored to reform the abuses in the trade, by 
the same means. My brethren, for more perfect 
access to the hearts of slaveholders, became, in 
many instances, slaveholders ; upon the same 
principle I, for more full and easy access to the 
hearts of slave-traders, became a slave-trader.” 


MR. ST. JOHN. 


389 


Looking round him he said: “I see that you 
all look surprised ; but I hope to convince you by 
the most exact logic that I was in the discharge 
of a high Christian duty. The abuses of slave- 
holding, and the slave-trade were, and will con- 
tinue to be, the means of assailing slavery itself; 
and we all wisely judge that a reformation of 
those abuses will be the best means of sustaining 
the institution. None of you condemn the con- 
duct of those ministers who labor day and night 
with tears, to reform the abuses of slave-holding 
and to bring the institution itself more completely 
under the control of Christian principles. Apply 
the same reasoning to the slave-trade and the 
line of duty is as plain in the one case as it is in 
the other.” 

Miss Williams: u ITow did you labor in this 
department ?” 

“ As I have just told you, I became myself a 
trader and went with the gangs. At first I en- 
deavored to abolish the practice of chaining the 
slaves in coffles, and succeeded in inducing one 
trader to abandon it, but so many of the slaves 
ran off, that we had to return to the old method 
of securing them. I then endeavored to introduce 
family worship and reading the Scriptures morn- 
ing and evening to the slaves and to the men 

who conducted the coffles ; but the slaves were so 
S3 


390 


BELLE SCOTT. 


sullen and sleepy, and the drivers so profane 
and frequently so drunk, that I soon found I 
could be of no service there. As a last effort, I 
tried my uttermost to induce them to remember 
the Sabbath day but the men said no such thing 
had ever before been heard of,— that the slave- 
trade knew no Sabbath, and the trader did not 
care a straw ( they used another and worse word ) 
for it — and so after many faithful efforts I had to 
give that up also. If my Christian brethren had 
sustained me, perhaps I might have succeeded ; 
but as I was alone, with the world against me, I 
fear my feeble labors will be lost.” 

Miss Williams : “ You condemn, of course, the 
African slave-trade, do you not, sir?” 

“ Not at all, miss, not at all. We who support 
and believe slavery to be right ; have unwisely 
lost a great point, by yielding to the assertion, 
that the foreign slave-trade is wrong. If you 
will examine the arguments urged against it, you 
will find that they are generally directed against 
its abuses, and do not touch the vital question 
itself. They condemn the practice of crowding 
so many slaves together in the holds of the 
vessels, without adequate food or water, so that 
many of them perish on the passage; the cut- 
throat and piratical-looking men who conducted 
such vessels; and above all, the great fact that 


MR. ST. JOHN. 


391 


Spaniards and Catholics were frequently officers of 
the ships, and cruel in their treatment to their 
slaves ; these are the great arguments against the 
African slave-trade. 

“ But that too, should have been reformed. If 
only as many were brought over as the ships 
could comfortably hold; if the slaves were well 
fed and supplied with water ; if Protestant Chris- 
tians were officers of the vessels; then it is 
plain that the trade would be respectable, and 
would probably have continued to this hour. It is 
the abuses of slavery, and the slave-trade, that 
should be the object of our solicitude. If the 
slave-trade is wrong, then it follows inevitably 
that slave-holding is wrong too; if you condemn the 
one, you must also condemn the other ; and if you 
sustain the one, you must also sustain the other. 

Mr. Jones said: “I think I heard you say 
that you endeavored to reform the practice of 
hunting fugitive slaves with dogs. I suppose 
sir, of course, that you tried to abolish it alto- 
gether.” 

“ No sir, not at all — not at all. The practice 
is necessary and proper. I know it shocks your 
prejudices to hear me say so; but a little reflec- 
tion will convince you that it is only prejudice, 
and not reason that is surprised. 

u Hear me then, for a moment. It is right to 


392 


BELLE SCOTT. 


hold slaves — that is settled ” — laying his hand upon 
the table. “Now that right cannot be enjoyed, if 
every slave is allowed to walk off at his pleasure. 
The right to hold, implies the right to re-capture. 
This being so, if one runs~off, it is right to hunt 
him. But you object, perhaps to the means used. 
Dogs, however, are found from experience — the 
experience of hundreds of planters, and for a 
hundred years — to be the best means of hunting 
fugitive slaves. But for them, many who have 
escaped and hidden themselves in dense forests 
and swamps could never be retaken. It is, there- 
fore, right to use dogs. I did so ; at first I put 
wire-muzzles over their mouths ; but this put the 
poor dogs completely in the power of the fugitives, 
they killed them as fast as the dogs came up 
with them. This was extreme cruelty to the dogs, 
and was too, a great waste of money, for each dog 
killed, was worth, at least, twenty dollars. It 
made the dogs useless; I therefore took off the 
muzzles. 

“This branch of the business really needed 
Christian reformation, and still needs it. Those 
who are engaged in it, are too frequently low, 
vulgar men ; very profane, and they actually de- 
secrate the Sabbath, by following it on that day. 
I therefore went into the business, hoping to re- 
form it ; but alas ! my brethren in the ministry 


MR. ST. JOHN. 


393 


did not sympathize with me. I could not con- 
vince them that I was right. I suppose, that their 
minds were so full of prejudice against the class of 
men who are engaged in it, that their prejudices ex- 
tend even to the work itself— a very common case.” 

Captain Carter said to Mr. St. John : “ Did 
you ever have any bad luck, while you were out 
with your hounds ? It appears to me, sir, that 
sometimes mistakes might be made that would be 
quite unpleasant.” 

“Such mistakes do not often occur; but in 
that business, as in all other human affairs,” said 
Mr, St. John with a sigh, “accidents will hap- 
pen. I can never forget, that four or five years 
ago, I was out with my hounds, in pursuit 
of runaway negroes. The neighborhood had 
been infested for several days with something 
greatly destructive to poultry and pigs; it 
was difficult to determine whether the havoc 
was made by a negro, or a bear. I satis- 
fied myself, that the mischief was done by a 
runaway negro; and came the more readily to 
this conclusion, because Colonel Nimberley had 
lost a slave, a large athletic negro, a few days 
before. I determined, if possible, to capture the 
creature, because he seemed to be unusually bold 
in his depredations ; and his example might cause 
great mischief to all other slaves in the neigh- 


394 


BELLE SCOTT. 


borhood. Accordingly I set out, one Saturday 
morning at daybreak, with five good hounds. It 
was a dark, drizzly, disagreeable day. About 
ten o’clock the hounds struck a trail; it was 
along a path that led through a great forest. 
The ground was nearly level, and thickly over- 
grown with bushes ; these bushes and the trees 
were dripping with the rain. To make matters 
still worse, my horse became lame. The trail, at 
first, was hard to follow; my hounds wandered 
into by-paths, and then returned to the regular 
track, that led directly west from the Mississippi 
river. I should have told you before, that it was 
in the northern part of Louisiana. My mind 
was as gloomy as the weather. While I was thus 
sad, I thought of the hard task I had under- 
taken — to remove popular prejudice from a voca- 
tion, that is an essential part of the system of 
slave-holding, by showing the people, that all the 
duties that grow out of slave-holding, may be 
performed in a Christian manner, and by a Chris- 
tian minister. But one of my brethren in the 
ministry in the country, sustained me, and he did 
so in theory only. That was the Rev. Reason 
Tarbut, a most pious minister — humble and filled 
with the odor of sanctity. 

In the midst of my gloomiest thoughts, it oc- 
curred to me with great force, that our system of 


MR. ST. JOHN. 395 

slave-holding is sustained by a great many of the 
churches in the free states. 

“ He that is not against us is for us. 

“ Nearly all these churches condemn going to 
theaters and dancing as sins ; and do not condemn 
slave-holding as such : does it not follow that they 
regard slave-holding as a lighter matter than dan- 
cing or visiting the theater ? It is either clearly 
right or grossly wrong. 

“ Assuredly, if northern ministers and church 
members really believe that slave-holding is wrong, 
they would not hide their light under a bushel. 

“ While these thoughts were crowding through 
my mind, cheering, sustaining, and encouraging 
me in my labor, my heart was warmed; but I 
was weary, hungry and wet. Sometimes the 
hounds would leave the trail, and wander for miles 
into by-paths, and again would take a fresh start. 
We went on till nearly dark, and I heard with 
great joy, that peculiar cry the dogs always raise 
when the object they are pursuing is close before 
them. I whipped up my poor jaded horse, and 
soon came up with the dogs and their game. 

“How was I horror-stricken to find that the Rev. 
Reason Tarbut, to escape them, had hastily climbed 
into a tree. The good man had an appointment 
to fill on the next Sabbath ; he was making a long 
journey on foot, and had taken this as the nearest 


396 


B3LLE SCOTT. 


road to bis place for preaching. We had been 
following him all day. I soon relieved him. He 
was, I assure you, greatly frightened, and he had 
reason to be so, for my dogs were hungry and 
fierce.” 

“ I suppose,” said Captain Carter, “ the dogs 
had followed him by the odor of sanctity ? They 
must have been poor hounds, not to know the 
difference between the odor of sanctity, and the 
trail of a negro.” 

“ My lead hound, Juno, had a bad cold that 
day,” said Mr. St. John. 

“ But, my dear sir, that was not the worst of the 
matter. Mr. Tarbut had been convinced by my 
arguments, that the slave-system, as it exists in 
this country, is a unit. He was, of course, before 
he met with me, well assured that to hold slaves 
is right ; he soon saw very clearly that the foreign 
and domestic slave-trade, and the means usually 
resorted to for the capture of runaway slaves, are 
also as just and well-founded in right, as slave* 
holding is. He was one of my earliest converts 
in the south-western country, and my firmest 
supporter. Now he was so scared by the hounds, 
that I cannot but fear his intellect was somewhat 
touched, for from that day to this, he never would 
say one word to sustain my views about the right 
and duty to hunt runaway negroes with dogs. So 


MR. ST. JOHN. 


397 


far from doing so, very soon afterward he re- 
moved to Iowa, and recently by a letter which I 
received, I am most sure that he has turned an 
Abolitionist, for he states in that letter, that he 
still believes the system of slavery is a unit, and 
also in another part of it he writes, that he believes 
it is a sin to pursue fugitives with hounds, or with- 
out them. Poor man ! his mind never was of the 
first order, and now, I fear, that he is slightly 
deranged.” 

Captain Carter, during this reply, turned his 
face from the speaker; I fancy he did so to con- 
ceal a smile, and the smile seemed to be con- 
tagious ; Mr. St. John observed it and said : “ I 
fear that these details do not interest or perhaps 
offend you, but be assured, ladies and gentlemen, 
that from the African slave-trade down to the 
re-capture of slaves with dogs, there is an un- 
broken chain — the whole is but one system, and 
the beginning and the end are parts of that 
sj'stem. If you sustain, as I trust you do, slave- 
holding, the precedents and the consequences 
must be sustained also. If it is right to hold 
them, it was right to bring them here; if it is 
right to hold them, it is right to re-capture them, 
when they escape, by the best means that experi- 
ence suggests. 

“ Did you ever meet with any other bad luck, 


398 


BELLE SCOTT. 


in that business ?” said Captain Carter, with quite 
a long and sober face. 

“Yes, sir; early one morning not long ago, I 
lost two of my dogs. I was in pursuit of a large, 
ferocious-looking negro man, who had a child with 
him. They were eating their breakfast — at least 
the girl was — when we came upon them. The 
man killed two of my remaining dogs, and injured 
the others, by which I suffered severely.” 

Miss Jane: “Well, Mr. St. John, your argu- 
ments seem to be logical, if the system is right ; 
but I differ with you on that point. I do think 
it is not only wrong, but one of the very greatest 
sins that ever cursed our earth.” 

Mrs. St. John : “ Oh, honey, how you are 
mistaken ! It ’s one of the nicest things in this 
world, to have a nigger to wait on you ; to tote 
you a gourd of water when you are dry ; to keep 
the flies off with a brush, when you are asleep 
after dinner. Beside, honey, we could not do 
without ’em at all in our country, ’cause it ’s so 
nice to have ’em ; and it ’s respectable too.” 

Miss Jane : “ Do ministers, in your state, 
generally own them ? ” 

Mrs. St. John : “ Indeed they do, when they 
are able. I know a minister that owns three 
wenches ; whenever he and his wife wish to take 
a trip to the springs, you know, or to Philadelphy 


MR. ST. JOHN. 


399 


or New York ; they just sell some of the children, 
and get the needful at once. Slaves are always a 
cash article.” 

Miss Jane : “ Why, I do hope, that you do 
not approve of selling children from their mothers, 
madam ? ” 

Mrs. St. John: “Oh no! I do not approve of 
such sinful waste. Willful waste makes woeful 
want, miss, as the Bible says. It is a sin to sell 
children ; better to keep ’em till they are fourteen 
or fifteen years old at least, and then sell them ; 
they’ll bring double price, ma’am. One of our 
neighbors wanted to take his girls to some great 
springs; and so do you think, he actually sold 
two boys of about six years old, for eight hundred 
dollars. It was the greatest piece of waste I 
ever did hear tell of. Oh no, miss ! I does not 
approve of selling children.” 


CHAPTER LI. 


MR. ST. JOHN. 

The company all went away except Mr. and 
Mrs. St, John, who were invited to pass the 
evening at Mr. Stillman’s. 

“My dear sir,” said Mr. Stillman to Mr. St. 
John, “ yon are mistaken respecting churches in 
the free states. They do not, as you think, 
intend to indorse the system of slave-holding. 
Men do not reach the truth by intuition ; it is 
only to be arrived at, by patient thought, No 
mans opinion upon any question which he has 
not investigated \ is -worth a cent. Error is the 
natural product of the mind, even of cultivated 
men ; except only, in those departments to which 
their culture has been applied. We have ex- 
amined the subject of dancing and going to 
theaters, and have reached correct conclusions 
upon them. We have not examined, as we should 
have done, the subject of slave-holding; and as 
the result of our negligence, our thoughts upon it 
are either crude or erroneous. 

“As light advances, the Church will also 
( 400 ) 


MU. ST. JOHN. 


401 


advance ; and this sin, as well as others, against 
which her armies array themselves for battle, 
will fall before it. The Church, with all her 
errors, is the light and hope of the world ; and 
will reform every abuse, and expel every sin, as 
surely as God is in her midst. 

“ The Church was as united on the subject of 
the slave-trade, and supported that, as firmly as 
she now supports its result, slave-holding. Church 
members with us now, have entirely different views 
on that matter, and regard the foreign slave-trade 
as piracy.” 

“ That, my dear sir, is a great delusion,” said 
Mr. St. John. “ The foreign slave-trade cannot be 
piracy, whatever opinions may have been rashly 
carried into laws to declare it so, as long as the 
domestic slave-trade is a respectable business. 
They both rest on the same basis: and the 
domestic slave-trade is the necessary result of 
slave-holding. The latter could not exist a day 
without the former. No master can keep his 
slave in subjection unless he has the power to 
sell him, for that is the greatest of all his means 
to coerce obedience. The Church then is in a 
contradictory position. She condemns the foreign 
slave-trade, while she supports slave-holding and 
the domestic trade.” 

“ I regret,” said Mr. Stillman, “ that it is too 


402 


BELLE SCOTT. 


much so, but men cannot and will not sleep for- 
ever while such great matters as this question 
involves are before them. The acts of Congress 
and of the state legislatures, that support slave- 
holding directly or indirectly, will soon be declared 
void by the courts or be repealed by the legisla- 
tures and Congress respectively. 

“Christianity has gained her present position, not 
by the world’s favor, but by winning her way inch 
by inch in a hand-to-hand fight with her enemies. 
The brows of her soldiers have been covered with 
dust, and their shoes filled with blood, and behind 
them, is a path overspread with the bleached bones 
of those who have fallen in her battles, wide 
almost as the world and extending back through 
the ages to the cross of Christ. 

“The practice of Christians is no rule of 
faith — we must go to the Bible,” 

“ Certainly, my dear sir,” said Mr. St. John, 
“ that is the very book I rely upon to sustain me.” 

“ Do you think it a sin for a slave to steal ?” 
said Mr. Stillman. 

“ You surprise me, sir ! certainly I do. Who- 
ever doubted that ?” 

“Let me ask you, Why is it sin for him to do 
so?” 

“ Because God has said, ‘ Thou shalt not steal.’ ” 

“We will take that as the stand-point of our 


MR. ST. JOHN. 


403 


argument,” said Mr. Stillman. “ It is a sin for a 
slave to disobey any of the commandments. 
These commandments are laws to the race of man, 
and should control the conduct of each man in 
the world.” 

“ Certainly, my dear sir, I have preached that 
doctrine for twenty years, to masters and to slaves 
alike. I never heard a human being doubt it.” 

“The commandments then bind each man. 
Has it never occurred to you, my dear sir,” said 
Mr. Stillman, “ that they protect each man in the 
world ; and that protection to human rights is their 
great object ? 4 Remember the Sabbath day to 

keep it holy !’ The object of this law is, that each 
man in the world may be protected in his religious 
rights. God, by addressing laws to free agents, 
has hushed the whole world into silence on the 
Sabbath, that every man, it may be the beg- 
gar on the dunghill, may worship him in peace. 
And so with the law, ‘Thou shalt not steal.’ 
Every man on earth is commanded to respect all 
your rights of property. It follows inevitably, 
that if the slave is bound by these laws, he is pro- 
tected by them.” 

“ Yes, sir, that is certainly so,” said Mr. St. 
John. 

“ Then,” continued Mr. Stillman, “ the slave has 
the right to love God ; he has the right to keep 


404 


BELLE SCOTT. 


holy the Sabbath day ; to honor his father and 
his mother ; to respect the earnings of others, and 
to have others respect his earnings; to respect 
the marital rights of others, and that others shall 
respect his marriage relations ; he has the right 
not to covet his neighbor’s house, nor wife, nor 
man-servant, nor maid-servant, nor ox, nor ass, 
nor anything that is his neighbor’s, and that his 
neighbor shall not covet his wife, nor anything that 
is his. 

“ But further, the duty is imposed by God ; no 
law of man can interfere with the duty. The right 
to discharge the duty is conferred on us by God, 
and no law of man can take away that right.” 

“ Yes, sir,” said Mr. St. John, “ that is very true 
and very clear.” 

“ These laws are addressed,” said Mr. Stillman, 
“ to persons who may obey or disobey them ? ” 

“ Yes, sir.” 

66 To free agents ? ” 

“ Certainly to free agents ; they could not have 
the character of laws, ‘ obligatory rules for con- 
duct/ unless addressed to persons, who otherwise 
might not act as they command.” 

“ God had the right to make them ? ” 

“ Why certainly, Mr. Stillman, you surprise me, 
by asserting what no one in his senses ever denied.” 

“Now,” said Mr. Stillman, “can a slave, of his 


MR. ST, JOHN. 


405 


own free will, obey all these laws ? can he keep 
the Sabbath day? honor his father and his mother? 
obey — freely obey — all the other commandments, 
unless his master shall permit him to do so ? 

“Do you not see that the master stands above 
the slave, and between him and his God, and that 
slave-holding deprives the slave of his free agency? 
Do you not also see that these laws presuppose 
that the persons to whom they are addressed can 
obey them if they will ? You have admitted that 
they are addressed to the whole human race; to 
each man in the world ; and by God who created 
all men : and does it not follow inevitably, that 
God intended that men shall be free ? ” 

“ The view is quite novel to me,” said Mr. St. 
John. “ There is some plausibility in it. The 
idea too, that each man is a separate center, and 
that all the commandments surround him, (as 
the planets roll around the sun) and protect him 
from the aggressions of all other men, is, at least, 
worthy of attention. It exalts humanity, and 
shows that the thunders and lightnings of Sinai 
are exhibitions of the benevolence and care of 
God for all human beings.” 

“ But still,” said Mr. Stillman, “ my question 
is not answered. Can a slave, of his own free will, 
obey all these commandments, if his master shall 
choose to forbid him ? ” 

34 


406 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ Is not your inquiry, directed rather to cases 
of abuse of the power, than to its legitimate ex- 
ercise ? ” asked Mr. St. John. 

“ No, sir. The very existence of the power is 
the wrong. To obey God is the purpose for which 
man is created; and the existence of a power to 
prevent man from obeying him, is the existence 
of a power to defeat the purpose of the man’s 
creation.” 

“ I will think of this matter. It is late. I 
must bid you good-night,” and Mr. and Mrs. St. 
John went to their lodgings. 


CHAPTER LI I. 


MRS. ST. JOHN. 

While the gentlemen were in conversation, 
Mrs. St. John said to Mrs. Stillman : “ Oh dear ! 
how I would love to take a good smoke. I 
always does so after dinner.” 

“ Come with me,” said Mrs. Stillman, “ into a 
back room.” 

The ladies withdrew. Mrs. St. John lighted 
her pipe. “ I hope it will not hurt you, dear.” 

“ It will not hurt,” replied Mrs. Stillman, lay- 
ing a slight emphasis on the word hurt. 

“ Now, I’ll tell you all about it,” said Mrs. St 
John. 

“ Captain Carter came to our house, last Wed- 
nesday, three weeks ago, and asked me, if my 
name was not Robinson, before I married Mr. 
St. John? and I told him, ‘Yes, sir, and a very 
good man Mr. Robinson was, too,’ said I to him. 

“ Then,” said he to me, “ c My name is Joseph 
Carter, madam ; I live in New Orleans, and I have 
come to see you on very particular business.’ ” 

“ I was half scared when he said that ; and says 

( 407 ) 


408 


BELLE SCOTT. 


I to him : ‘ My husband that is, Mr. St. John, 
will be at home in an hour or two ; stay and take 
dinner with us, and he will be back by the time 
it is ready.’ ” 

He said : “ 6 Thank you, madam.’ Then says 
he : c Do you remember a girl named Belle, who 
lived with you several years ago ? ’ ” 

“That scared me worse than ever, because 
I did know a good deal about her; and more 
than it was right for me to tell, ’specially while 
my husband was away. But I studied over it 
a minute, and said : ‘ the girl you mention, lived 
with me and Mr. Robinson, about three years. 
Mr. Robinson bought her cheap of a trader ; and 
we kept her three years, or thereabouts, and sold 
her to Williams, the trader. Williams said he 
wanted to buy the little thing ; and hinted that 
she was kin to great folks, and they wanted her ; 
and so we sold her to him. I would not have 
agreed to sell her on any account, only for her 
good ; for I liked the little thing. 

“When Mr. Robinson brought her home, he 
said, the trader asked him where he lived ; and 
he told him, he lived away off from all the big 
roads, and where nobody hardly ever, could find 
the place ; and the trader told him, that was a 
good place for the child, for her mother w r as trying 
to steal her. When she came to our house, she 


MRS. ST. JOHN. 


409 


was greasy all over; and one of our neighbors 
said, he heard of a woman that greased a Dutch 
child with bacon rinds, and made her sit in the 
sun till she looked like a mulatto, and then sold 
her for a big price to a trader. But we thought 
nothing of it, only I saw that the longer the 
little thing lived with us, the whiter she got ; 
’specially, when I made her wear her sunbonnet 
whenever she went out of doors.” 

Mrs. Stillman coughed. “I hope the smoke 
don’t hurt you, ma’am,” said Mrs. St. John. 

“ It will not hurt me, I think.” 

“ After we sold the child, we never heard any 
more of her, till about four years ago, when Colo- 
nel Leathers, who lived a good ways off, sent for 
Mr. St. John ; and the man that came, said he 
was sick and liken to die. 

“ I went with Mr. St. John, and when we got 
there, Oh dear ! what a sight it was, to see Col- 
onel Leathers tumbling and tossing in his bed ; 
and to hear him say, there was no hope for him.” 

Mrs. Stillman. “His poor wife, how I pity her !” 

“His wife was dead then. She was a mon- 
strous religious woman. She taught all her 
young slaves, one after another, the whole cate- 
chism, and did her best to make ’em Christians. 
She died only a year before Colonel Leathers did, 
and there was a great dispute about her death. 


410 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ She had two doctors, and one of them said, 
she died of apoplexy, and the other said, she 
smothered to death in her own fat. The dispute 
got so high, that the doctors used to shoot at 
each other with pistols whenever they met ; till 
the neighbors got tired of it and made them 
drink friends. 

“ Mr. St. John sat down by Colonel Leathers’ bed 
and began to talk to him about politics, but the 
Colonel said that politics was only vanity and vexa- 
tion of spirit. 

“ Colonel Leathers had been a great politician in 
that county. The gentlemen all said that his prin- 
ciples was the very corner-stone of our republican 
edifice. Some of them wanted him to be Presi- 
dent, but the Colonel always declined ; he told them 
that it was honor enough for him to lay down the 
principles of the party, and it did not make any 
difference what man they got to carry them into 
practice, and that ‘ they had better get a northern 
man with Colonel Leathers’ principles and leave him 
to enjoy in peace the sweets of domestic life.’ 

“ Them was the very words he said, but where 
the sweets was I don’t know, for his wife, they do 
say, always found fault with everything in this 
world. She thought so much of the angels, honey, 
that she could not bear anything that was not as 
perfect as an angel. 


MRS. ST. JOHN. 411 

“Well, my husband that is, Mr. St. John, said 
to him, ‘ I do hope you will recover, sir.’ 

“ He sighed and said, his work in this world 
was all done; and then he took Mr. St. John’s 
hand and cried, and said, ‘ You knew me, my dear 
sir, when I was a young man, and that sermon 
that I first heard from you has had a great effect 
on my whole life.’ 

“Mr. St. John told him ‘ he was glad to hear it ; 
that every sermon should make a lasting impres- 
sion on the minds of the hearers.’ 

“ ‘ But you convinced me, sir, that the slave- 
trade should not be a disreputable business.’ 

“ ‘ I have long been of that opinion,’ my 
husband said to him. 

“ ‘ I determined, under the influence of that 
discourse, to marry the dear saint, my departed 
wife.’ 

((i I always supposed so, sir,’ said Mr. St. John. 
And then he said, honey, that ‘when he made 
up his mind to court Mrs. Tullis that was, he 
wanted to get good clothes,’ for he said, ‘ it was no 
use for a man to court a widow without he wore 
good clothes.’ And so he sold an old negro 
he had, named Joe. He put a bottle of whisky, 
where old Joe found it and stole it, and got 
drunk ; and before he was sober, the trader had 
the handcuffs on him. 


412 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ Then he said, ‘ he knew that the nurse’s child 
would be so much better off if it was only a slave 
and he made a bargain with a trader to sell the 
child to him; that he went up to the nurse’s 
room, and took away the wrong child and carried 
it on board the vessel, and before daylight the 
ship was off to sea. And when he found out his 
mistake, he was mighty sorry, but there was no 
help for it, without ruining himself. 

“ He cried like a child, when he said this, and 
seemed so sorry for his mistake, that I pitied him 
from my very heart. 

“ He was a little flighty, at times, and seemed 
to think that, somehow or another, Mr. St. John 
was a kind of to blame for it. 

“ At one time he tried to blame the whole of it 
on to Mr. St. John; but he said, 6 You know, my 
dear Colonel, that I had no hand in the matter,’ 
and then the Colonel said, c No more you had — no 
more you had.’ 

“ Just before he died, we were both called up 
at night, and he gave Mr. St. John a great bun- 
dle of letters that he got from Mr. Williams, 
the trader ; and told him where the child was, but 
that he must keep it a secret till the proper time. 

“ He gave him, too, a great big roll of papers 
that he wanted him to look over and publish, 
after his death, being his political principles ; but 


MRS. ST. JOHN. 


413 


Mr. St. John said, ‘he was only a preacher, and 
had nothing at all to do with politics ; ’ and Col- 
onel Leathers got him to write a note to General 
Blowell, and request him to have all his best 
thoughts spread out in the newspapers, at some 
presidential election, ’specially in the free states, 
because, he said, ‘ that was the place where light 
was most wanted.’ 

“And then he talked about Belle, and said, ‘ if 
she only had one drop of negro blood in her veins, 
he could die in peace, but as it was, there was no 
hope.’ 

“ My husband tried to console him, and told him 
that it was only a mistake made in the dark ; but 
he said, ‘ there was no hope for a man who, even 
in the dark, mistook a rich woman’s child for a 
poor one’s.’ 

“My husband told him, he must not despair. 

“ But the Colonel said, ‘ the difference between a 
white child and a black child was enough to drive 
any man to despair.’ 

“ And so he died, poor dear man, and we staid 
till the funeral. 

“ Messages were sent out for all his relations and 
friends, and they came. Four of his wife’s sisters 
were there, and his father-in-law. They were all 
a poor, miserable, broken-down set of people. They 
had been mighty rich once, but bad luck came 
35 


414 


BELLE SCOTT. 


on their husbands, and the whole of them got 
broke up, and there they are, living yet, as poor 
as they can be ; and two of them, honey, looks 
like they drank ; they were both a little tipsy at 
the funeral. 

“Mr. Leathers was a great man. He was a 
fightin’ colonel, and the people buried him with 
all the horrors of war. 

“ When my husband came home, Captain Carter 
told him all about Belle, and they talked the mat- 
ter all over, and we agreed to come up here and 
tell all we knew, whether it did any good or not. 

“ Captain Carter went for poor old Mr. Strong, 
and he agreed to come with us. He told us, as 
we were coming here, that the worst day’s work 
he ever did in his life, was when he sold his girl 
Patsy, and said, ‘ there seems to be no end to the 
troubles it has caused me.’ His wife is dead, and 
he is so poor now, that he has to live with one of 
his daughters, and she, poor woman, is a widow, 
and has mighty little to live on. 

“I hope the smoke is not disagreeable, Mrs. 
Stillman ? 

Mrs. Stillman was silent. 

“ La me ! honey, why didn't you tell me that 
before ? Here I have been talking and smoking 
an hour, and you, poor dear, have been suffering 
from the smoke. But I'm done now.” 


CHAPTER LIU. 


MR. ST. JOHN. 

Very early the next morning, Mr. and Mrs. St, 
John were at Mr. Stillman’s. 

“ I see it clearly now. I was awake nearly all 
last night thinking the matter over, and my views 
are clear enough, at least, for my own purposes, 
my dear brother Stillman, I have been in error 
all my life on a vital question, honestly so ; but 
now, to-day, I am rid of the greatest of all errors 
in morals and theology. God never made one 
man to be the slave of another. He intends that 
the whole race shall be equally bound and equally 
protected by his laws. All stand on a level before 
him, as He is the Father of all the race,” 

“ Take seats on the porch here,” said Mr, 
Stillman, “ or walk into the house, if you please,” 
“ Oh no, sir,” said Mr. St. John, leaning against 
a pillar of the porch, and touching his forehead 
with the fingers of his left hand. “ Let me stand 
for a moment, while I state my views, that you 
may see whether I am right or not. 

“ The whole race of man should obey all the 

( 415 ) 


416 


BELLE SCOTT. 


commandments that God has revealed by means 
of his holy Word. It is their duty to do so ; and 
when God commands anything to be done, he 
gives the right to obey his command. 

“ The right and the duty are both alike from 
God. Human legislation cannot impair or destroy 
the one or the other. 

“ But as a man has the right to discharge every 
duty required of him in the Bible, he cannot be 
a slave ; for the Bible prescribes all his duties, and 
as a correlative, secures all his rights. 

“ Our duties commence as soon as we know right 
from wrong, and end only with our lives, and ex- 
tend to every action ; and it follows that our right 
to discharge them exists every moment, and in 
every circumstance in which we may be placed.” 

“ I see that you understand my position,” said 
Mr. Stillman, “and am glad you do so. It is 
very simple. No slave can, of his own free will, 
obey the whole Bible. Slavery is therefore wrong, 
for God gave us the Bible, and commands every 
man to obey it.” 

“ It follows, my dear brother Stillman, that Con- 
gress can pass no law, by which any man can be 
compelled to aid in the surrender of a fugitive slave. 

“It is a sin, to hold one of God’s children as a 
slave; and therefore it is a sin to pursue him, 
when he escapes, and to aid the pursuers. 


MR. ST. JOHN. 


417 


“ Let me give an illustration that occurred to 
me last night. Many negroes in the South, are 
slaveholders. Many of the slaves are so nearly 
white, that is impossible to know they have any 
African blood in their veins. 

“Now, suppose the case of a fugitive slave 
mother, bearing her infant daughter in her arms. 
She gets into a free state and dies. The 
daughter is adopted by persons able to give her 
the highest culture. She grows up to woman- 
hood, and is beautiful, educated, and refined ; and 
while she is standing with the bridegroom at 
the altar, with orange flowers in her hair, her 
beauty heightened by an imperceptible trace of 
African blood in her veins ; a negro, with all the 
most repulsive features of his race, exaggerated by 
a countenance on which is written brutality and 
depravity of the deepest die — old, ugly, gap- 
toothed, wrinkled — seizes the bride as his fugitive 
slave, and commands the bridegroom, under these 
laws, to aid him in bearing her to his den of sin.” 

“That is a horrid picture,” said Mr. Stillman. 

“ It is indeed ; but, my dear Mr. Stillman, no 
man knows better than you do, that the sin and 
shame of the act, are not affected by the color of 
the actor or of his victim. 

“I have thought of another case, my dear 
brother Stillman. 


418 


BELLE SCOTT. 


“ A mother escapes with her boy, who grows 
up to manhood, and is a faithful minister of the 
Gospel. He gathers around him a congregation, 
who have been brought by his agency, into the 
fold of Christ ; and while he is administering to 
them the communion of his broken body and shed 
blood, the master enters the church, drags him 
from the altar of God, and commands the con- 
gregation to aid him, under this law, in taking 
the slave back into bondage.” 

“ I see, my dear brother,” said Mr Stillman, 
“ that you are thoroughly converted. 

“ It is all very simple ; slave-holding is a sin, 
and laws can no more make it right, than they 
can make the polygamy of the Mormons right. 

“Law is a rule of action prescribed by the 
superior, and which the citizen or subject is bound 
to obey. Legislation has no more authority to 
compel men to sin, than it has power to dethrone 
God. 

“The whole legislative power of the world, 
cannot make it the duty of any man to sin ; and 
can make no rule for the control of his conduct, 
which will require him to commit any crime 
against man.” 

“ I am glad, my dear brother,” said Mr. Still- 
man, “ that your opinions are changed. 

“ The fugitive slave laws cannot be executed 


MR. ST. JOHN. 


419 


without destroying religious liberty. The same 
blow which strikes down the religious freedom of 
the northern judge, lights with equal force on the 
rights of the southern planter. 

“ We do not deprive the planter of any right, 
when we refuse to surrender his fugitive slave ; on 
the contrary, we secure to him his highest and 
greatest, and what should be, his dearest right — 
his liberty of conscience. 

“We preserve this Union by refusing, upon 
this principle, to make such surrender ; and we do 
even more than that, we keep the Union as our 
fathers made it — a Union worth preserving. 

64 The religious principles of all nations lie near- 
est their hearts and deepest in their affections. 
All history shows that he who tampers with this 
sentiment of the people, uncaps a volcano. It is 
the last right that any people will, knowingly, 
submit to have wrested from them, 

“If the people of the free states shall really 
be convinced that their right of religious liberty 
is impaired by these acts of Congress, no power 
on earth can prevent them from throwing off 
such fetters. Many will do it at the sacrifice of 
everything that hinders them in their efforts to 
be free, 

“But now, my dear brother, as the acts are 
merely void, nothing need be sacrificed to secure 


420 


BELLE SCOTT. 


the right. It is safe. Our fathers, under God, 
have made it so ; and we have but to adhere to the 
Constitution as it is, to have the free exercise of 
religion.” 

“True, very true,” said Mr. St. John. 

“Well,” said Mrs. St. John, “honey, what will 
you do now with old Aunt Polly ? She is your 
slave. What ’s mine is yours, you know.” 

“ I will set her free. The purpose is now fully 
formed in my heart to do it, as soon as I can 
execute the necessary papers, and bring her to a 
free state.” 

“ Oh, dear me ! I do wonder what the old wo- 
man will say, when she hears it ; won’t she be 
scared though ? I’ve seen her cryin’, honey, and 
heard her say many a time, and when I axed her, 
‘ What ails you, Polly ? ’ she wiped her eyes with 
her apron, and said, ‘ Missis you’s mighty good 
to me, but it ’pears hard for a person to be a 
slave ; and her master to sell off all her 
children.’ 

“ But I never sold one of ’em. They was all 
sold, afore I bought her.” 

“ You concur very cheerfully in the views of 
your husband,” said Mr. Stillman with a smile. 

“ Oh yes, honey ! I always does. You know, 
the Queen of Sheba wrote to Solomon, that a 
woman ought always to let her husband do all 


MRS. ST. JOHN. 421 

the thinking, and other out-door business, while 
she cooks the victuals, and makes clothes.” 

“ The Queen of Sheba, my dear ? ” said Mr. St. 
John, “ where did you learn that ? ” 

“ Oh ! I learnt it either in the book of Paul 
or Solomon, I don’t care which, its good Gospel 
wherever you find it. It saves a heap of trouble 
to the women, and pleases the men folks.” 


CHAPTER LIV. 


DEATH OF BELLE. 

Belle, wasted to a skeleton, was rapidly sink- 
ing to her grave. Consumption was doing its 
steady work upon her ; her countenance was bright 
with hope, and at times, was almost radiant with 
light and love, to all around and above her. She 
was on the very verge of heaven, and knew that 
angels were holding over her a golden crown, 
richer and brighter than earthly monarch ever 
wore, and that her poor aching head, was nearly 
ready to wear it forever. 

Mr. Stillman had encountered the rebuke of 
part of the members of his church, but he was both 
kind and firm, and those who at first were most 
opposed to his course, were now sorry for their con- 
duct ; while others, and they comprised the great 
portion of the best members of his church, grasped 
his hand more warmly and loved him with deeper 
fervor, and were the most attentive listeners to 
his discourses. The cloud had passed away — the 
sunshine came again with redoubled brightness 
and warmth. His church soon acquired the name 
( 422 ) 


DEATH OF BELLE, 


423 


of the ‘Abolition Church;’ but all the members were 
still as cheerful and happy, as full of love and 
goodness as they were when no such reproaches 
were cast upon them. They admitted that, 
if by “abolition,” is meant, “ the application 
of Christianity to the sin of si av e-hol ding ,” the 
charge is true. 

An attorney was one day sent for by Belle, 
while Mr. and Mrs. Stillman were absent on a visit 
to a sick person, who wrote, at her dictation, several 
sheets of paper, which she signed, and others also 
signed it, who had been invited in by the attorney; 
after all was rightly done, he took the paper, care- 
fully sealed up, with him. 

A week afterward the bell of the little church 
tolled, and people went to the house of Mr. Still- 
man, and a procession of friends followed the re- 
mains of poor Belle to her resting-place. The red 
earth, in which they let down the coffin, seemed 
a bed of roses, for she who slept there, slept in 
peace. 

Two or three days after the burial, the attorney 
called on Mr. Stillman, and told him that Belle 
had made her will, and left it in his care : witnesses 
were taken, and it was duly proved ; in the first 
passage in it she made full provision for those 
who were once her slaves, and directed that they 
should be taken to a free state. 


424 


BELLE SCOTT. 


Mr. and Mrs. Stillman were by no means for- 
gotten. They were abundantly rewarded for all 
their care, as far as a generous bequest in money 
could do so. They received thousands of dollars — 
enough to supply all their wants. 

Mr. Hulbert, and all who assisted at the fire, 
too, were generously remembered. Mrs. Johnston 
(now no longer Mrs. Johnston,) had a very hand- 
some addition made to her already ample fortune. 

Poor Belle faded, as fades a sweet and lovely 
flower, whose fragrance still fills the air with per- 
fume, and gladdens the heart. 


CHAPTER LV. 


MRS. REED. 

Our narrative must now close. Mr. and Mrs. 
Reed, formerly Mrs. Johnston, are married and 
living near Cleveland, Ohio. They have a beau- 
tiful mansion and a farm, and are contented and 
happy. Mr. Reed has retired from his business 
as a printer, and is now a farmer; one of that 
kind who reads books on farming, and talks of the 
best kinds of wheat, and the improvement of agri- 
culture and horticulture, and the arts and sciences 
in general. He is a warm friend of freedom, and 
his voice is often heard urging his neighbors to 
vote for God and for Liberty. 

Mrs. Reed is the same dear, kind-hearted little 
woman that she ever was ; with a smile always on 
her face. She is still more an Abolitionist than 
when we first saw her, and is strongly inclined to 
support the doctrine of woman’s rights. 

The courtship of Mr. and Mrs. Reed would have 
been recorded for the especial benefit of the young, 
but she saw the sheets after they had been written, 
and seized, and still detains them. She says it 

( 425 ) 


426 


BELLE SCOTT. 


is one of her rights, that her love-affairs shall be 
kept secret, unless she herself shall choose to dis- 
close them. She insists upon it so strongly, and 
supports her claim with so many plausible argu- 
ments, smiling all the time, and yet so earnestly, 
that it is really impossible to withstand her ap- 
peals. We regret it, but where a lady is so firm 
in her purpose, it is difficult indeed, to do what 
she forbids. 

She says that Mr. John Scott was a wicked 
man, but she always adds, (standing erect, and 
extending her finger, her blue eyes flashing as 
she speaks,) “ that every slave-owner holds his 
brother’s child in bondage ! ” 


the end. 



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